From January 26 to February 1, 2002, at the invitation of the Ministry of Personnel, Minister Moleketi of Public Office and Administrative Affairs of South Africa visited China, and met with State Councilor and Secretary-general Wang Zhongyu. Moleketi held talks with Minister Zhang Xuezhong of Personnel and signed a memorandum on the cooperation of developing human resources between the two countries.

On February 17, 2002, artists from Chinaand South Africaheld an art performance entitled "Hailing for China". South African President Mbeki gave a heart-warming TV speech on this event.

From March 1 to 8, 2002, at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of China, a cultural delegation headed by Vice Minister of Art and Science of South Africa visited China and met with Assistant Minister of Culture Iia Mingru. The two sides signed the 2001-2004 implementation plan of the culture and art agreement between two countries.

From April 12 to 15, 2002, at the invitation of the Ministry of Construction of China, Minister Sankie of Housing of South Africa visited Chinaand held talks with Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao.

From May 8 to 15, 2002, at the invitation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of China, General Director Romasa of the Ministry of Labor of South Africavisited China.

From May 19 to 22, 2002, at the invitation of South African Ministry of Health, Vice Minister of Health Se Jing visited South Africaand signed with South African Minister of Health Msimang an agreement on bilateral cooperation on the traditional medicines.

On October 4, 2002, at the invitation of Minister Ngubane of Culture, Art and Science of South Africa, Chinese Vice Minister of Culture Meng Xiaosi attended the fifth Ministerial Meeting on International Cultural and Network Policy, held in Cape Town, South Africa. Meng met with Minister Ngubane.

From October 13 to 19, 2002, at the invitation of the Ministry of Communications, South African Ministry of Communications Dullah Omar visited China. Minister of Communications Huang Zhendong met with Omar and arranged for him a banquet. Minister of Railways Fu Zhihuan and Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China Yang Yuanyuan respectively met with him.

On November 12, 2002, the replica of the digital edition of the Chinese Map during the Ming Dynasty was exhibited in a map exhibition entitled "African Outlook'', held by the National Assembly of South Africa. Speaker Ginwala, Deputy Speaker Mbete, Chairman Pandor of the Committee of the Provincial Affairs of the National Assembly, the First Lady Siluota,as well as ministers from Ministries of Tourism, Finance, Communications, Public Security, and leaders of major parties attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

On November 15, 2002, at the invitation of the National Tourism Administration, Deputy Minister Mbutafasiof South African Ministry of Tourism attended the Shanghai International Tourism Fair, and met with Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration Sun Gang. The two sides signed the Memorandum on the Implementation Plan of Chinese Citizens' Organized Visits to South Africa.

On November 21, 2002, Deputy Director Wang Baoliang of the State Sport General Administration visited South Africaand signed with South African Ministry of Sport the Memorandum on the Cooperation of Sports between Chinaand South Africa.

From November 22 to 28, 2002, the "Chinese Films Festival'', co-sponsored by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, South African Ministry of Culture and Art, and the Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, was respectively held in Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa.

On March 11, 2003, the second meeting of the China-South African Joint Scientific and Technological Commission was held in Pretoria, Capital of South Africa. A Chinese delegation headed by Wu Zhongze, representative of the Minister of Science and Technology and a major member of the ministry, visited South Africaand attended the meeting. Wu held talks with Songjika,South African Vice Minister of Science and Technology and the two signed the protocol of the meeting.

From March 25 to 26, 2003, at the invitation of Ministry of Agriculture, Thoko Msane, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairsof South Africa, visited Chinaand held separate talks with Minister of Agriculture Du Qinglin and Director Li Changjiang of the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision. The two sides signed an accord on the Establishment of the Joint Agricultural Cooperation Group.

On March 28, 2003, Deputy Director of the State Sport General Administration Yu Zaiqing visited South Africaand met with Chairman Lamasami of the Olympic Games of South Africa. The two sides discussed the expansion of cooperation between the two countries in the field of sport.

On April 1, 2003, the Memorandum on the Implementation Plan of Chinese Citizens' Organized Visits to South Africaofficially came into force. A day later, the first Chinese group of visit arrived at South Africaat its own expense.

The exchanges between Chinaand South Africaat the provincial level have also advanced smoothly. In 1998, Beijingand Gauteng, ShandongProvinceand West Cape Townestablished sister-city relationship. In 2000, Nanjing of Jiangsu Province, and Bloemfontein of Freedom Province, Guangzhou of Guangdong Province and Durban of Kwzulu-Natal Province, Harbin of Helongjiang Province and Kamila of Gaudeng Province, Zhejiang Province and East Cape Town, and AnhuiProvinceand NorthProvince, and Shanghaiand Kwzulu-NatalProvinceofficially signed agreements of friendship province or city relationship. In 2001, Sichuanprovince signed a sister-province agreement with province Guateng. Qingdaocity of Shangdong province, Baotoucity of Inner Mogolian Autonomous Region, Harbin of Heilongjiang province signed sister-city agreements respectively with South African cities. Till May of 2003, there are 15 pairs of Chinese and South African provinces and cities formally signing sister-province or sister-city relations.

In 2001, there were 31 South Africastudents studying in China.

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