“All good things,” so the saying goes, “must come to the end.” Paraphrased, if you will, I’d say, in the case of the outgoing top envoy of China to South Africa, Ambassador Chen Xiaodong, it was so good it had to come to the end.
A large number of top government ministers and officials, particularly from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) bore testimony to the highest regard with which Chen is held in a country that has been his home for nearly the past four years.
He was China’s sixth ambassador to SA since the establishment, by Nelson Mandela, of diplomatic ties 25 years ago.
Having started his work in SA oi
