Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in SA for Brics summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping has landed in SA to embark on a three-day visit. 

He was received by President Cyril Ramaphosa, a procession of SA National Defence Force soldiers and local cultural performers upon his arrival close to midnight on Monday. 

Ramaphosa and Xi greeted each other with mutual smiles and a two-handed handshake at OR Tambo International Airport. 

Xi was mum on China’s ambitions ahead of a state visit to SA and the Brics summit, and was quickly whisked off after a quick greeting with Ramaphosa. 

For Xi, this is his first in-person summit of the Brics grouping since the Covid-19 pandemic and it has been widely reported as only his second trip out of China this year. 

This speaks to the importance of the meeting that will discuss the expansion of the bloc, which includes Brazil, India, Russia, China and SA, the reform of global financial institutions and the just energy transition.

CNN reported that Xi’s trip to SA comes just days after US President Joe Biden met the leaders of Japan and South Korea in a show of solidarity against rising threats from China.

International media are also widely reporting on the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Xi and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. If the bilateral meeting takes place, it will be their first since the India-China border standoff began in May 2020.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the first Brics member to arrive at OR Tambo airport on Monday, ahead of the two Chinese aircraft bringing Xi and his delegation. 

Delegations from South Sudan and Malawi jetted into Lanseria International Airport. Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé will also arrive on Monday night in an Airbus corporate jet.

They are among more than 30 African heads of state that are expected to attend the Brics Summit. 

Modi is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin will join the Brics Summit virtually. 

This follows a request from Ramaphosa that Putin does not attend in person to spare the SA government from having to carry out its legal obligation to arrest the Russian leader after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of his arrest related to his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

UN secretary-general António Guterres has also confirmed his attendance at the Brics summit. 

omarjeeh@businesslive.co.za