PRETORIA - Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping and a UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls' and Women's Education, visited a pre-school in the South African capital of Pretoria on Tuesday.

Peng was accompanied by Tshepo Motsepe, wife of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a representative of the African Self Help Association Trust during the visit.

Scores of South African children waving the national flags of China and South Africa shouted "welcome, welcome" in Chinese and English upon Peng's arrival at Uthando Day Care Pre-school in the east suburb of the capital.

The children sang in Chinese An Ode to the Goose, a short poem written in China's Tang Dynasty. Peng applauded their pronunciation and gave the children toys, stationery and books as gifts.

Peng said children bear upon the future of a country.

Moral education is the most important in early education, when the children should be guided to aspire high and cultivate their moral characters, she said.

Peng also called on the children to carry forward the friendship between China and South Africa when they grow up.