According to South Africa's Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who is on a three-day visit to China, the agreement between the two banks followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on "geology and mineral resources".
South Africa currently exports minerals worth about $5,5-billion a year to China and has increasingly viewed that country as a source of foreign direct investment.
Motlanthe says the deal between the two countries was intended to "strike a healthy balance" in trade volumes. No details of the specific investments being made by China have been released.