The Chinese embassy in South Africa has announced the arrival of a new batch of Foton trucks, manufactured by Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC), calling it a testament to the “strong China-SA partnership”.
According to the embassy, the trucks are expected to create jobs and help strengthen bilateral trade, with a specific focus on South Africa, not the American market.
“The delivery of new Beijing Automobile International Corporation BAIC trucks in South Africa is a testament to the strong China-SA partnership, as these vehicles will create more jobs for the locals. BAIC prioritizes the SA market, not necessarily heading to the American market,” the Chinese embassy stated on Facebook.
But South Africans were not convinced.
The announcement was met with a flood of scepticism. Many South Africans questioned how local jobs would be created if the trucks were merely imported and not manufactured or assembled locally.
“Can China invest in manufacturing factories, so that more jobs can be created locally and the trucks be produced in SA, than for them to be shipped here?” one user commented.
The debate comes as fresh doubts hang over the Coega-based BAIC-SA plant in Gqeberha, which was originally meant to support local assembly.
Launched in 2018 with R11 billion and hyped as China’s biggest investment outside Europe, the project has only produced 300 vehicles in six years as reported by CityPress — a performance widely described as dismal.
BAIC attributed the dismal performance to work stoppages caused by labour disputes, disgruntled SMMEs and the Covid 19 outbreak.
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The plant, a joint venture between BAIC (65%) and South Africa’s IDC (35%), had aimed to produce 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles annually and create 3,000 jobs by 2022.
Industry observers now fear the same plant earmarked to assemble Foton and Sinotruck vehicles may never reach meaningful volumes, making the embassy’s promises feel more like PR than practical progress.
As one commenter bluntly put it: “This deal doesn’t do much for South Africans. We need them manufactured here.”
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