China Media Group (CMG) and the South African Football Association (SAFA) signed a memorandum on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, to enhance collaboration on football events' content production, CMG said on Wednesday.

The agreement was signed after Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to South Africa. The rapid development of sports event exchanges is a proof of the deep relationship between China and South Africa, according to CMG President Shen Haixiong.

"Sports is a common language for all mankind, and exchanges on sports-related events are an important part of China-South Africa cultural exchanges," Shen said.

In recent years, CMG has successfully broadcast major sports events like the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. 

"It not only demonstrated our world-class broadcasting capabilities and scientific and technological innovation capabilities, but also promoted people-to-people and cultural exchanges by telling the stories of peace and friendship in sports," said Shen.

SAFA President Danny Jordaan praised CMG's broadcasting record for sporting events. He said he looked forward to more close, practical cooperation on football exchanges to promote friendship between the people of the two countries.

According to the memorandum, the two sides will actively work on football cultural exchanges, bring about football games between the two countries, facilitate sport content production and distribution, and arrange for personnel exchanges as well as management interactions.