Chinese state councilor meets of South African president on cooperation

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who was to attend outreach session of the G8 Summit on behalf of Chinese President Hu Jintao, met here on Wednesday with Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, calling for deepening cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Dai conveyed President Hu's greetings and congratulations to Zuma on his victory in the general election, according to a press release issued by the Chinese delegation.

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo (L) meets with President of South  Africa Jacob Zuma in L'Aquila, Italy, July 8, 2009. On behalf of  Chinese President Hu Jintao, Dai Bingguo will attend a dialogue meeting  of the Group of Eight and the Group of Five major developing countries  in the central Italian city of L'Aquila.(Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Dai said both China and South Africa are important developing countries, and deepening the bilateral strategic partnership is not only in the basic interest of both countries and both peoples, but also helpful to the substantial cooperation between China and Africa at large.

As the global financial crisis has crippled the world economy and exerted negative impact on the people's life, Dai called for further all-around cooperation between the two countries.