Xi’s Africa tour reveals China’s growing security role

Zimbabweans are expecting to see the mega deals signed by Harare and China trickle down to the people in the grassroots and eventually change their lives for the better.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce President, Davison Norupiri, said business welcome Mr. Xi’s pledge to support local business people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a wildlife sanctuary in Harare Wednesday morning before wrapping up a state visit to Zimbabwe, in a show of the country’s commitment to wildlife protection.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the session, Zhang said fruitful achievement has been made between China and African countries since 2000 when the FOCAC was established under the initiative of China and African countries.

Zimbabwe was unlikely to get a cent out of it. Chinese grants to Zimbabwe over the past three years totaled 100 million USA dollars.

The relationship between China and Africa is a partnership that is aligned to Africa’s development goals and not merely based on just trade, South African Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, has said.

Calling China Zimbabwe’s “best friend” on the worldwide stage and describing Xi’s visit as a significant event in the development of bilateral ties, Mugabe told Chinese agency Xinhua in a recent interview that he will confer with Xi on bilateral cooperation in various sectors. 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.

The International Cooperation Centre – National Development Reform Commission of China’s director general Cao Wenlian on Monday told a China-Zimbabwe Business Forum that it was considering putting Zimbabwe on priority list of African countries that Beijing targets for investment, alongside Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa.

The two governments signed 10 agreements, including a $1-billion thermal power expansion project, according to Reuters. “We have had a lot of Chinese involvement before, but little improvement has happened”.

Xi reached Harare after attending a climate summit in Paris. “I hope the media of both sides can use the opportunity of this summit to have more broadened and in-depth cooperation to promote the friendship of China and Africa”.

Before the visit, Mugabe said he highly expected this visit to bring more co-operation projects and exchange programs, which he said would help with the economic independence of Zimbabwe, which has long suffered from inflation and sanctions.

The trip, which comes upon the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-Zimbabwe diplomatic relations, is Xi’s first to the African country and also the first state visit by a Chinese president to Zimbabwe since 1996.