New dawn for China-Zimbabwe ties

Published: 01 April 2018

President Emmerson Mnangagwa leaves for China today amid expectations that his visit will unlock opportunities to boost Zimbabwe's economic recovery.

He will meet his counterpart President Xi Jinping, in addition to holding business engagements and discussions with senior Communist Party of China officials.

The Chinese Embassy in Harare on Friday indicated that the engagements would culminate in the announcement of a "huge package" to advance President Mnangagwa's development agenda.

In an interview with Chinese media in Harare yesterday, President Mnangagwa said, "I am going to the People's Republic of China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and I will say thank you, not only to the President but to the people of China for standing and supporting Zimbabwe during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us …

"Even when the world wanted to invade this country at the (United Nations) Security Council, China alongside Russia vetoed that action. So, that is the first thing we want to say; thank you for standing with us.

"But it is now necessary that for us to be able to stand on our own, we want our elder brothers to extend their hand and say 'come up'; and to do so we must have deeper economic relations.

"We know the road we need to follow to grow our economy. We have the priorities set out and we know the goals we want to reach. So, we are going to China to say this is the vision we have as Zimbabwe and for this vision, these are the targets we want to meet."

On Good Friday, China's Deputy Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Zhao Baogang said the two leaders' interactions would mainly focus on economic co-operation.

He said: "We will express our support for President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his efforts to revitalise the economy, to develop the country and also support his efforts to develop the country in the ways chosen by Zimbabwean people.

"Secondly, during the talks between the two Presidents, they will discuss the status between the two countries and we will elevate the relations between the two countries to a higher level. Possibly then we could reach an agreement to make sure that we have strategic co-operation between the two sides.

"Very soon you will know the kind of relations we will establish and the two Presidents will make the announcement. One thing I would like to indicate is that they will ensure that the relations between the two countries will cover political, economic, cultural, military and security and ensure that the relations are strategic."

He continued, "The third point; the two leaders will discuss trade and economic co-operation between the two sides and this is also the focus of their discussion and I believe that it will take them more than half an hour to discuss this issue.

"During the talks, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, will make an announcement on the new batch of assistance to Zimbabwe and that is assistance, a grant that would be a huge package.

"On this part, they will also discuss the construction of the new Parliament Building and pharmaceutical warehouse and some other projects …On liquidity support, I just got briefed by both sides that not long ago, Zimbabwe's Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank Governor visited China and one Chinese commercial bank expressed interest on this issue.

"This is the kind of understanding between two financial institutions; the Chinese commercial bank will co-operate with the African Export and Import Bank to see the possibility of providing further loans to the Zimbabwean side.

"The Chinese side is trying to find means and is trying to find solutions to help alleviate the liquidity crisis here in Zimbabwe. And we can also expect that some progress will be made."

Last week, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Busi Moyo also said: "His Excellency the President was invited by his counterpart, President Xi, and he accepted. There is going to be a State visit as a result of that invitation.

"This is going to be a milestone visit because firstly, it is a key visit by our Head of State to a country which has stood by Zimbabwe over a long time and where the two Heads of State would focus on bilateral issues.

"Not only political relations, because political relations with China are very good; that is not debatable. The idea is to take relations with China to the next level, which we call the strategic partnership. This is where the development agenda of Zimbabwe will be discussed and strategies formulated."
- zimpapers