Tong Shiping, assistant director of General Political Department of the PLA, met with the Engineering Corps Delegation of the South African National Defense Force headed by Brigadier General Masters yesterday in Beijing. 　　Tong Shiping said, although China and the South Africa are far apart geographically, there exists profound friendship between the peoples of the two countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the bilateral ties between the two countries have been developing in an all-round way, and the two sides have carried out fruitful exchanges and cooperation in the political, economic, cultural, military and other fields. Meanwhile China and the South Africa also share broad consensus on some important international issues. Along with the all-round and steady development of relations between the two countries, the two militaries have also carried out extensive and in-depth exchange and cooperation, and there is great promise of further development of friendly cooperative ties between the two militaries. The Chinese side is willing to work together with the South African side to further expand the fields of cooperation, consolidate the achievements made in cooperation and make new contributions to the development of strategic partnership between the two countries. 　　Masters said he really marveled at the development of China's economy and society. China's development has provided useful experience for the developing countries to learn from and draw on. The South African side attaches importance to developing friendly cooperative ties with the Chinese side and is willing to further enhance the exchange and cooperation between the two countries and the two militaries on the basis of the existing ties. 　　By Zhang Shun 　　(May 29, PLA Daily)

本报北京5月28日电记者张顺报道：总政治部主任助理童世平今天在京会见了由马斯特斯率领的南非国防军国家工程建设团一行。 　　童世平说，中南两国虽然相距遥远，但两国人民之间有着深厚的友谊。自建交以来，双边关系全面发展，在政治、经济、文化、军事等领域开展了卓有成效的交流与合作。中南两国在一些重大国际问题上有着广泛的共识。在两国关系全面稳步发展的同时，中南两军也开展了广泛而深入的交流与合作。童世平表示，发展中南两军友好合作关系具有广阔的前景，中方愿与南方一道，进一步扩大合作的领域，巩固合作的成果，为两国战略伙伴关系的发展做出新的贡献。 　　马斯特斯说，中国经济社会的发展令人赞叹，中国的发展为广大发展中国家的发展提供了学习和借鉴经验。南方重视发展与中方的友好合作关系，愿在现有关系的基础上，进一步加强两国两军之间的交流与合作。