A bridge between nations

Businessman from Shandong devoted to promoting cultural exchanges between China and South Africa

Although he is 63 years old, Sun Kuifu, a businessman from Shandong province, doesn't want to stop to smell the flowers, but would rather continue his efforts to promote economic and cultural exchanges between China and South Africa, using the rich resources he accumulated during the past two decades there.

Sun went to South Africa in 1992 and obtained permanent residency in 1993. He is now the royal envoy of Zulu, the largest tribe in South Africa, and the permanent honorary chairman of the Shandong Association South Africa.

"China and South Africa are now facing a good opportunity to deepen mutual cooperation since China launched the Belt and Road Initiative," says Sun, noting that China and African countries reached unanimous consensus at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in December 2015 in Johannesburg to upgrade China-Africa relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, backed by a road map for further boosting mutually beneficial cooperation and common development.

South Africa is China's largest trade partner in Africa for the seventh consecutive year, according to the China-Africa Trade Research Center, and China is South Africa's largest trade partner worldwide for the eighth consecutive year.

"I've been through the hard times in South Africa, especially the time before 1998, when China and South Africa established official diplomatic relations. And now I can embrace new opportunities to do something to promote mutual cooperation," says Sun.

"Whether the project can create good effects has always been my concern when I decide which project I need to promote," he adds.

An example is the Qingdao Haiyu SA Wines Co, which Sun established in 2005 to bring wines produced in South Africa to the Chinese market.

In addition to providing jobs for local women, Sun took 50 US cents from each bottle of wine he sold to help poor children in South Africa go to school.

Now Sun is working to promote cooperation in the wine and agricultural industries between Penglai, a coastal city of Shandong, and Capetown.

As the chairman of the Shandong Water Origin Environmental Protection Technology Co supported by the Shandong Water Development Group, a state-owned company, Sun is also introducing potential investors to develop environmentally friendly water and solar projects in South Africa.

"Each project needs quite complicated procedures to win agreement by the parties concerned. I persist. no matter how difficult it is, as long as I believe the projects are good to both China and South Africa," says Sun.

Charity and public interests programs have always been a major part of Sun's work.

In 1999, Sun, along with dozens of Chinese in South Africa, founded a Chinese-language newspaper to spread information on South Africa, China and other countries.

"The newspaper aims to expand Chinese culture, promote cultural exchanges between China and South Africa and enhance the friendship between Chinese and South Africans," says Sun, who is former vice-chairman of the newspaper.

"Chinese in South Africa need to know more about the country, like its laws and policies. Meanwhile, we (Chinese in South Africa) also need updated information about our own country," says Sun.

In Shandong, birthplace of Confucius, Sun invested 1 million yuan ($145,000) to establish a fund to support college students, most of them from his hometown of Qingdao, to start their own businesses.

Sun now spends most of his time in China, though his son is still in South Africa, continuing his father's efforts to promote exchanges.

"I'd like to share all my resources with my Chinese and South African friends and try my best to do something for promoting mutual exchanges," he says.

zhaoruixue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/14/2017 page3)