South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia in November 2022. (Source: Xinhua)

On June 9, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Xi stressed that bilateral relations are of great strategic significance to safeguarding the common interests of developing countries and guiding China-Africa unity and cooperation.

Noting that this year is the “Year of South Africa”, as the rotating chair of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the leader said that the development of bilateral relations is facing many important opportunities.

In that context, Mr. Xi Jinping affirmed that China supports South Africa in successfully organizing various BRICS cooperation activities this year.

The leader said Beijing is willing to work with Pretoria to upgrade bilateral relations, build a high-level China-South Africa community with a shared future, jointly implement genuine multilateralism, safeguard the common interests of developing countries and make the international order more just.

On the Ukraine issue, the Chinese President affirmed that his country's stance is consistent, which is to promote peace negotiations.

South Africa is now considering its legal options if Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the BRICS summit in Johannesburg next August.