On July 24, 2018 local time, President Xi Jinping and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa jointly attended the opening ceremony of South Africa-China Scientists High Level Dialogue in Pretoria.

Xi Jinping and Cyril Ramaphosa walked into the venue of the opening ceremony together amid warm applause.

Xi Jinping pointed out in the speech that China and Africa, who have stood together through thick and thin, have always been a community with a shared future and a community of shared interests based on win-win cooperation. The Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in December 2015 achieved a complete success. We are glad to see that the science and research cooperation projects inked in the outcome documents of the Johannesburg Summit have been well implemented with remarkable achievements. With joint efforts from both sides, the China-South Africa innovative cooperation in science and technology has been actively advancing. With important progress in technology cooperation in various fields, and multiple achievements in cutting-edge technology and industrial application cooperation, the breakthrough in science and technology made by Chinese and South African scientists have caught global attention, which enriched the contents of China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership and became a new growth point in expanding bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation.

Xi Jinping stressed that the FOCAC Beijing Summit will kick off in September. The China-South Africa and China-Africa science and technology cooperation is faced with important new opportunities. We should actively build new platforms for joint innovation, deepen exchanges and cooperation, boost exchanges among young scientists, proactively involve ourselves in the global innovation network, and promote open cooperation in innovation ability with countries around the world, so as to push forward the China-South Africa innovative cooperation in science and technology to keep up with the global trend of science and technology development, and endeavor to become top players in such development. It is hoped that representatives from the Chinese and South African science and technology and industrial circles will continue to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, actively expand innovation and enhance coordination, in order to find a win-win development path for China-South Africa innovative cooperation in science and technology. Xi Jinping expressed confidence in the smooth realization of the goals through persistent endeavor.

In his speech, Cyril Ramaphosa thanked Xi Jinping for his close attention and support to South Africa-China science and technology cooperation, noting that South Africa-China science and technology cooperation has achieved fruitful results in recent years. The South Africa-China Scientists High Level Dialogue demonstrated the two countries' resolution in promoting growth through science and technology innovation, and their cooperation potential in this field. The South African government is committed to strengthening innovative cooperation in science and technology, so as to better cope with the fourth industrial revolution. The Chinese side is a reliable science and research cooperation partner of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the Chinese side for its commitment to helping Africa's development and promoting the Africa-China innovative cooperation in science and technology under the framework of the FOCAC.

Xi Jinping and Cyril Ramaphosa together toured a photo exhibition of the achievements in China-South Africa innovative cooperation in science and technology before the opening ceremony of the dialogue.

The two heads of state went to the exhibition hall together, and watched the photos of Africa's flagship projects in science and technology, South Africa and China's respective science and technology achievements and their cooperation results. The South African Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope project, a major project involving multinational scientists including those from China, is a major science and technology cooperation project between China and South Africa. The two heads of state listened carefully to the relevant introduction and encouraged scientists from both countries to continue making efforts to smoothly complete the SKA project. After the exhibition, the two heads of state attended the video link ceremony for the first vehicle rolling off the line from Beijing Automobile Works' investment project in South Africa.

Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi, He Lifeng and other attended the above activities.