Mugabe looks forward to Xi’s visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday that were expected to focus on boosting investment and trade worth around $20 billion dollars (13.38 billion pound) a year.

He was welcomed by President Robert Mugabe and senior government officials at the Harare International Airport.

President Robert Mugabe met Xi at the airport before the two were driven to Mugabe’s farm, about 40 kilometres north of Harare.

And in the face of western sanctions, China is a major investor in Zimbabwe, helping to keep the lights on.

China will facilitate South Africa’s efforts to lead China-Africa cooperation on production capability and promote Africa’s industrialization, encourage more financing for South Africa, and support the early launch of the establishment of an African regional center for the New Development Bank for BRICS countries, said Xi.

“It’s very urgent for the developing countries to improve their worldwide communication capability to create a more objective, impartial and balanced global public opinion environment”, said Jiang.

The upcoming Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) offers a great opportunity for China and African nations to elevate their relations to a new high, African experts have said. A 21-gun salute was sacked in his honour as Zimbabwe pulled out all the stops to welcome the leader of the world’s second-largest economy.

“We’re still confident about China-Africa trade” because of positive developments in Africa including its growing population and abundant resources, Qian said. As Africans we look forward to expanding our cooperation with China in line with “Africa’s Agenda 2063 – The Africa we want” priorities, particularly in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure, industrialisation, public health, education, green energy, agriculture, and human resource development.

“Optimistically dubbed “mega deals” by Zimbabwe’s government press desperate for a fillip, these deals pale into insignificance compared to what China has done, and continues to do, elsewhere on the African continent”.

This was evident in the Zimbabwean visit, where Xi signed several investment deals involving key sectors, including power generation, construction and communications.

China will also help to build a auto manufacturing plant on South Africa’s coast which should begin exporting vehicles to other African countries by the end of 2017.

In a bylined article published in the local newspaper the Herald, Xi touted the close ties with Zimbabwe as being “a cornerstone” of China’s foreign policy, despite constant and complex changes in the worldwide landscape. “China and Africa have always shared a common future”, he said.