Visiting Foreign Minister Yang Jiachi said while the crisis had hit the Chinese economy, the country was in "good shape" and expected a high growth rate in 2009.

"China will keep its promise of continuing to make good investments in Africa, will continue its aid programme, will continue to carry out what we have promised," he said after a meeting with his South African counterpart.

Yang met with South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the end of the last leg of a four-nation tour of Africa, promising that China would continue to reduce tariffs, increase aid and promote cooperation on the continent.

"China will by no means cut its aid to Africa. On the contrary, we will continue to have a vigourous aid programme here and Chinese companies will continue to invest as much as possible in Africa because it is a win-win solution."

He also urged the rest of the international community not to withdraw aid from Africa.

Yang, who is on his second visit to South Africa -- the fourth by Chinese officials in 12 months -- said the two countries should pool their wisdom and resources to maintain a growth momentum in what he said were trying times.

China doubled aid to Africa in 2006, giving billions of dollars in preferential loans and cancelling debt as it seeks to further extend its influence on the resource-rich continent in a relationship that has often drawn criticism from the West.

China has extended massive loans towards infrastructure development amongst others to countries such as Sudan who have poor human rights records, obtaining huge oil and gas deals.

South Africa is China's key trading partner in Africa, accounting for 20.8 percent of the total volume of China-Africa trade in 2008 with total trade at some 100 billion rand (10 billion dollars).

"There is great promise for further increasing trade between China and Africa," said Yang.

He added it was important for African countries to be well represented in international financial meetings, saying the continent was a "very important voice which needs to be heard, which needs to be respected."

Yang said the two countries had deepened political trust in recent years and thanked South Africa for its cooperation on tricky international issues.

"Our countries conducted close coordination and cooperation in the UN Security Council as regards major international and regional issues and hotspot issues," Yang said before the start of a closed-door meeting.

South Africa has often joined China in blocking the discussion and resolutions around sensitive international issues such as the Zimbabwe crisis and the situation in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"South Africa gave China valuable support on issues that concern China's core interests including Taiwan and Tibet-related issues."

South Africa's Dlamini-Zuma, meanwhile, assured her Chinese counterpart that general elections later this year were unlikely to change the country's political scene and of Pretoria's strong relationship with Beijing.

Before arriving in South Africa, Yang visited Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi.

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