Experts shed light on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international order and China-South Africa relations at the China-South Africa Experts Online Symposium in late May.

The pandemic has completely changed the way the world operates, seriously affected the global socioeconomic system, and impacted all levels of society, said Rasigan Maharajh, chief director of the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation at Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa.

Geopolitical instability and tensions are increasing, the problem of inadequate international cooperation and international coordination is becoming increasingly prominent, the defects of national production capacity and efficiency are more noticeable. These problems along with the imbalance of national governance capabilities have brought new challenges to further cooperation between China and South Africa, Maharajh said.

Facing socio-economic challenges both in public health and financial markets, African countries cannot afford a complete lockdown, said Wesley Douglas, a senior research fellow at the Institute for African Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

Analyzing such data as GDP, foreign direct investment, industrial added value and government health care expenditures, Frank Agbola, an associate professor at the University of Newcastle in Australia, found that under the pandemic, many small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging economies such as China and South Africa are facing challenges, including weak resilience to economic crises, gradual exposure of the disadvantages of their social security systems, possible interruption of their supply chains, difficulty in financing, and the need to transform e-commerce and ICT.

Gert Grobler, a senior research fellow from the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, said that the pandemic has not been completely contained, and the two countries share a consensus on many issues. Now South Africa and other African countries need China’s support more than ever.

The South African government fully recognizes China’s ability to deal with this major public health security incident and expresses its sincere gratitude to China for its assistance in human resources, resources and knowledge sharing, Douglas said.

Nirmala Gopal, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, analyzed reports on the geopolitical relationship between China and South Africa in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa and China have maintained a diverse and vibrant mature relationship for many years, and both sides have readily negotiated to resolve any challenges and maintain this harmonious relationship.

Jiang Shixue, a professor at Shanghai University, said that global health governance should be based on the three pillars of science and technology, leadership of international organizations, and international cooperation. In order for China and South Africa to better cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes in the international situation, he suggested that China and South Africa use their respective comparative advantages to jointly establish a vaccine research group to prevent specific diseases.

There are also new opportunities for cooperation between China and South Africa under the pandemic, noted Yu Jia, director of the Department of International Development and Cooperation at the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University. While the pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of South Africa’s internet, telemedicine and distance education, China has developed many applicable technologies in these areas and accumulated a lot of experience. Under the pandemic, China and South Africa can carry out extensive cooperation in these areas, while deepening and expanding their cooperation in the construction of special economic zones and industrial parks. The two countries can also cooperate to promote the construction of special economic zones and industrial parks in other African countries.

Yu also suggested China and South Africa jointly promote cooperation with multilateral institutions. The African Regional Center set up by the New Development Bank in South Africa needs to cooperate with financial institutions in China and South Africa to increase investment in economic integration, industrialization and infrastructure development in African countries, thereby facilitating sustainable development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.