On March 6, Ebrahim Patel, South African Minister of Trade and Industry, and his delegation visited the BAIC Group, where they held an exchange meeting with CHEN Wei, Deputy General Manager of BAIC Group.
The discussions focused on BAIC’s operations and development in South Africa, industrial policy support, future product planning, and market development.
Mr. LIU Yu, Minister-Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, and Mr. WANG Xueying, Third-Level Researcher from the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ministry of Commerce, participated, attended the meeting.
CHEN Wei expressed his gratitude to the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa for its long-term support for BAIC’s projects in South Africa. He stated that driving better development for BAIC in the South African and African markets is a common aspiration of the BAIC Group and the South African Industrial Development Corporation. Both sides have made considerable efforts in project advancement and market expansion, achieving favorable results.
In 2024, BAIC South Africa will seize opportunities for development, base itself in the South African market, reach out to the African continent, accelerate the shift in production modes, expand into African and global export markets, all for better and superior development of the company in the future.
Ebrahim Patel mentioned that South Africa has been actively engaged in the “Belt and Road” initiative, promoting a continuously deepening trade cooperation relationship with China.
The growth in Africa’s population and the acceleration of urbanization will bring about a significant demand for automotive products. He hopes to further deepen cooperation with BAIC Group, discuss and consult from a more open perspective, and work together to promote greater development of BAIC South Africa, helping to elevate the trade cooperation between China and South Africa to a new level.
Before the meeting, the delegation had a detailed understanding of BAIC’s leading main models, including the Beijing BJ30, BJ60, BJ80, BJ40, and the ARCFOX αS and αT.
They watched a performance demonstration of BJ off-road capabilities and experienced test rides, highly praising the performance of the vehicles.
BAIC Group has always been actively implementing the “Belt and Road” initiative, deepening strategic cooperation with the South African Industrial Development Corporation, giving full play to their respective strengths, and striving to make BAIC South Africa a model for China-South Africa cooperation based in South Africa and reaching out to the African continent.
Currently, BAIC South Africa has achieved continuous SKD production, built over 50 dealer channels, and the X55Ⅱ(the “BEIJING X55” in South Africa) has gained a good market reputation and sales in the local market since its launch, winning the 2023 South African Car of the Year (COTY) “Best Family SUV”, Top Gear’s “Readers’ Choice of the Year” and other prestigious awards, and becoming the official vehicle of the BRICS summit.
Siyabonga C. Cwele, the South African Ambassador to China, along with leaders from the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, Trade and Investment South Africa, the South African Industrial Development Corporation, and BAIC Group participated in the event.
