As I mentioned before, maybe culturally China was quite differently from the experience that I had before. But China as you may know, has a closer relationship with South Africa. So coming here first and foremost I found that the relation between my country and China were very close and very active, which also meant more work for me. There are a lot of area where we cooperate with China. As I speak, this year is the Year of China in South Africa, and I think the previous year was South Africa Year in China.
As I speak,我理解为“我说过的”，为什不需要过去时态？
这应该是一个南非人说的话，其中至少有四处语法错误。
As I mentioned before, maybe culturally China was quite differently from the experience that I had before. But China as you may know, has a closer relationship with South Africa. So coming here first and foremost I found that the relation between my country and China were very close and very active, which also meant more work for me. There are a lot of area where we cooperate with China. As I speak, this year is the Year of China in South Africa, and I think the previous year was South Africa Year in China.
1 表语应该用形容词，此处用副词differently为错误。
2 were 应为单数was, 主语为the relation.
3 area应为复数areas。
4 speak应为said. As I said. 这里不可能是时间状语，与后面的句子没办法衔接。
所以，你了解这段话的大意就好了，不要扣语法了。