Deputy President Mashatile to host his Chinese counterpart for SA-China BNC

The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile, will on Thursday, 26 March 2026, host his counterpart from the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Vice President Han Zheng, at Tuynhuys, Cape Town in the Western Cape Province. 

The two leaders will co-chair the 9th South Africa-China Bi-National Commission (BNC), under the theme: "South Africa-China Relations in an Era of Global Transformation: Advancing Shared Modernisation".

South Africa and China enjoy strong diplomatic relations, anchored in the All-Round Strategic Cooperative Partnership in the New Era. The BNC at the Deputy Presidential level was established in 2000 as the highest-structured bilateral mechanism for consolidating diplomatic, economic, and sectoral cooperation between the two nations. 

Other Bilateral Structured Mechanisms with China to implement the 10-Year Strategic Programme on Cooperation (2020–2029), and monitor cooperation, include the Strategic Dialogue (SD) at Ministerial level DIRCO, the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETC) at Minister of Trade level, the People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM) at Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture level, and the Joint Working Group at Deputy Ministerial level DIRCO. 

Additionally, reciprocal State Visits and exchange of visits across Government Ministries, Parliament and Provinces reflect the depth of the relations and advance South Africa’s foreign policy and development priorities.

Details of the SA-China BNC are as follows:

Date: Thursday, 26 March 2026
Time: 10h00 (Media to arrive and obtain accreditation at 08h00)
Venue: Tuynhuys, Parliament, Cape Town

Members of the media wishing to cover the BNC are requested to RSVP by Tuesday, 24 March 2026.

RSVP: Bongani Majola (Presidency) on 082 339 1993 / bonganim@presidency.gov.za or Nelson Kgwete (DIRCO) on 076 431 3078 / kgweten@dirco.gov.za 

Media enquiries: Mr Keith Khoza, Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President, on 066 195 8840

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria