Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. South African President Zuma Ends Three-Day Visit to China Joe DeCapua 26 August 2010 South African President Jacob Zuma ended his visit to China Thursday, signing trade agreements relating to minerals, the environment and transportation. Mr. Zuma reportedly was accompanied by 17 cabinet ministers and about 300 business people. Lots of potential Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says, says South Africaâs relationship with China holds much promise. South African President Jacob Zuma, left, shakes hands with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao while meeting at the Zhongnanhai leaders' compound in Beijing, 25 Aug 2010 AP South African President Jacob Zuma with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, 25 Aug 2010 âPotentially itâs tremendously important. Already they (China) are a fairly major investment in South Africa. The prospect of increased investment, trade, technical transfer and so forth and, really, political support as well, I think, loom very large,â she says. Cooke says Mr. Zuma has âmade a fairly aggressive play to win that kind of a strategic partnership.â Whatâs in it for China? âSouth Africa,â she says, âis one of the best and largest performing economies in Africa. And China has made big plays within Africa more broadly,â she says. However, itâs not an equal relationship. âI think the relationship probably matters more for South Africa than for China. But China has been making big strides in trying to win commercial partners, political partners and strengthen cultural ties with a number of states in Africa,â she says. CSIS Jennifer Cooke, Director Africa Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies South Africa is an attractive trading partner for China, says Cooke, because its economy helps boost all of Southern Africa. âTheyâre kind of a pillar state for China to partner with.â BRIC The major emerging economies â Brazil, Russia, India and China â have formed a bloc known as BRIC. Representatives from those countries have been invited to recent G8 summits, as has South Africa. But is South Africa strong enough to add an âSâ to BRIC? âItâs got a ways to go,â says Cooke, âbut it certainly aspires to that statusâ¦. But has so many internal problems in terms of really this dual economy of a very sophisticated economy on the one hand, but then a very large informal economy, where unemployment is extremely high â 20 to 30 percent â poverty, really a crumbling education system and so forth.â However, Cooke says that South Africaâs interests may not always align with those of BRIC. âIt may find it doesnât want to be clumped with that group in certain circumstances. For example in global trade agreements, China is in such a very different position than South Africa is in terms of its interests in the global trade regime. South Africa might ally more in that instance with those of its African neighbors,â she says. Cooke says South Africa has to play its alliances âcarefullyâ and wonât want to be âlocked inâ to one particular grouping. Long term view Analysts say China, the worldâs second largest economy, takes a long term view when investing in Africa, rather than looking for an immediate return. âFirst it looks for resources, whether energy resources or mineral resources. But it also looks for markets. It looks for investment opportunitiesâ¦areas, for example, of employment for Chinese workers. On many of the big infrastructure projects theyâre investing in in Africa, itâs Chinese labor that does much of the work there,â she says. She adds, âUltimately, they do have this long, patient plan of building gradually commercial and diplomatic relationships that they believe I think over the long term will pay off both economically and politically.â .