Economic Relations between China and South Africa in the Colonial Period

The article retraces the origins of the current strong economic and diplomatic links between South Africa and China which go back to the European colonial period. The first Chinese traders and manual workers (the so-called coolies) came to the region by sea, the former to export slaves and later wine and the latter to work in the mines when gold and diamonds were discovered. Many stayed in the land and gradually assimilated with the other settlers.