Beijing — Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi will visit SA this week in the first foreign visit by a top official since China’s government reshuffle, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, offering details on a new role for the veteran envoy. Yang was China’s top diplomat when he was state councillor and is now a member of the ruling Communist Party’s 25-member Politburo. He will visit on Friday and Saturday as a special representative of President Xi Jinping, ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing. Yang, a fluent English speaker and former Chinese ambassador to the US, currently has only a party and not government position. There has been speculation in diplomatic circles about what he will do following the reshuffle, though the foreign ministry has said he will continue to play an important diplomatic role. Yang will meet South African government and political party leaders to discuss plans for a summit later this year between China and African countries, a...
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