Zuma visits China
December 4, 2014
Zuma was welcomed to Beijing on Thursday by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who praised him for attaching "high importance" to boosting bilateral ties.
China is South Africa's largest trading partner and the two countries are members of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, alongside Brazil, Russia and India.
China imports many South African raw materials and South Africa imports Chinese manufactured goods. The $24 billion in trade is heavily weighted in China's favor.
Zuma's governing African National Congress (ANC) was supported during the apartheid era by Moscow, but in recent years it has become pro-China.
President Xi Jinping visited South Africa in March 2013 as part of China's growing focus on Africa. The pair met again later on Thursday (pictured).
The Dalai Lama has been declined visas to visit South Africa three times over the past five years.
The latest refusal in September prompted dozens of Nobel laureates to boycott a planned meeting in Cape Town. Retired laureate and archbishop Desmond Tutu accused Zuma's government of "kowtowing" to China.
Organizers were forced to transfer that meeting to Rome.
Accompanying Zuma in China are seven cabinet ministers, with the portfolios of trade, finance, energy and transport.
ipj/ksb (AP, AFP)