South Africa says that it's willing to work together with China on meeting climate change goals and will welcome support from Beijing on developing related technologies. That was the message from South Africa's Minerals and Petroleum Resources Minister, Gwede Mantashe, who is attending the China Mining Conference and Exhibition in Tianjin. CGTN's Yang Shanshan has this story. 

YANG SHANSHAN CGTN Reporter "China wants to meet its climate change promise in carbon peak in 2030 and the carbon neutrality in 2060. What kind of changes do you think China's climate change promise bring to the global mining industry?"

GWEDE MANTASHE Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources, The Republic of South Africa "Because climate change has no boundaries, if there is pollution, it affects everybody. That is what we are suffering from. There is a lot of pressure on us to neglect coal and move away from it. And I think people who are dependent on fossil fuels are under the same pressure, but it is becoming more and more realistic in the world that the combination of technologies is a solution, not movement from one technology to the other, so that combination is going to be important. China is going to be quite helpful in that. China is growing very fast in renewable energy, but they're also building coal generating power station. So that means it is very realistic about a balance of technologies in the energy sector."

YANG SHANSHAN CGTN Reporter "And what kind of cooperation do you want to have with China to meet climate change promise?"

GWEDE MANTASHE Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources, The Republic of South Africa "The relationship between us and China is long. It's not a new one. It's a relationship they have supported us throughout and throughout, and therefore that relationship now will translate into cooperation in technologies, because the solution to climate change is technology. So the rural development, what was called modernization of China is actually about technologies changing from old technology to new ones. But one advice that they gave us, we're taking it very serious is that as you move from one terminal to the other, what you should avoid is to collapse the old one. Before you have proven the reliability of the new one, so transition must mean you are balanced until you achieve reliability of the new technology. So China is going to be quite helpful. They are developing faster than many other countries in terms of developing technology that is responsive to all challenges facing the world."

YANG SHANSHAN CGTN Reporter "And what kind of cooperation do you want to have with China in energy industry?"

GWEDE MANTASHE Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources, The Republic of South Africa "The first thing is that when they're mining companies to mine in South Africa, we have a wealth of mineral deposits, but we're also encouraging them to do two things. The main one, is to do a lot of exploration to find the quantity and quality of minerals. Number two, to do beneficiation close to the point of production."