South Africa will continue talks with China today to find a market for its surplus maize and to attract investment for processing plants, the agriculture minister said yesterday.

South Africa, the continent's biggest maize grower, produced a surplus of about 4million tons in the 2009/2010 season but has struggled to sell it because of limited demand and poor prices.

"We've had our first round of negotiations with the Chinese ministers of agriculture and of imports in China," Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said just before her departure for China.

She said China did not import maize as a necessity but was looking for value-added products, including feed for cattle and poultry.

"So the discussions we are having would be to use some of the maize for value-addition, which would mean we set up systems for agro-processing for the surplus maize we have."

She said that China was likely to invest in agro-processing plants as it had in fishing.

President Jacob Zuma visited China last month and urged the Asian giant to invest more in infrastructure and manufacturing.

"We want to increase our trade balance with China, so it will include primary food and processed food. Food along the entire value chain will be exported. It is going to be a huge trade and export of goods to China," Joemat-Petterson said.

She said South Africa was also targeting exports of soya and canned peaches to China's 1.3billion population as it sought to improve a trade balance heavily skewed in favour of China.