Chinese President Hu Jintao and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma agreed in New York on Tuesday to deepen bilateral relations and boost cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma in New York, the United States, Sept. 22, 2009. [Xinhua]

During his meeting with Zuma in New York on the sidelines of a series of UN conferences, Hu said relations between China and South Africa have enjoyed comprehensive and rapid development since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1998.

There have been frequent high-level contacts, increasingly enhanced mutual political trust, and deepened cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, culture, education, science and technology, health and tourism, Hu said.

The two nations have maintained close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs, and China and South Africa have become important strategic partners, he said.

During Zuma's visit to China in June last year, the two sides reached a wide-ranging consensus on many important issues, charting the course for further development of relations between the two countries and the two ruling parties, said the Chinese president.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2009)