China’s Xi heads to Zimbabwe ahead of Africa summit

Many were surprised when Chinese President Xi Jinping suddenly, and at nearly the last minute, chose to go to Harare on an official visit this week, as this trip was not on his diary earlier in the year.

“During President Robert Mugabe’s visit to China in August 2015, Harare and Beijing penned a series of deals, mostly in the energy, telecommunications and infrastructure sectors”.

Before the two-day summit begins on Friday, Xi will hold talks with South African President Jacob Zuma.

“The announcement suggests a rethinking of Chinese priorities on the continent, and marks a recognition that China’s participation in conflict resolution will be an unavoidable by-product of increased Chinese engagement”. Top academics on China-Africa Relations from China, South Africa, and the African continent, as well as African and Chinese journalists also attended the round-table discussions.

“I think that we’re all in the same boat if you’re a producer in the global economy”, said South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies.

“We are all duty-bound to ensure that the benefits of this unprecedented economic growth are translated into real socio-economic development for all our people”, he said.

Apart from deals signed yesterday, China has provided credit worth millions of dollars to fund several capital projects in the country, including the expansion of the Kariba South power station, upgrading of the Harare’s water and sanitation works and the expansion of the Victoria Falls International Airport. Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa penned four agreements on behalf of Zimbabwe with the first one being an economic and technical cooperation agreement with China.

Huang Ping, Chinese Ambassador to Harare, said China pumped in more than 0 million into the country in 2013, making it the biggest foreign investor in the nation, so far.

South Africa’s presidency said in a statement that the 26 agreements had taken bilateral cooperation between the two countries to a higher level.

“President Xi Jinping will likely be seeking new markets for Chinese manufactured goods, access to cheaper labour and production capacity, and securing precious metals, such as Zimbabwe’s gold, diamonds and other minerals that are in consumer manufacturing”, added Hill.

The foundation of the China-Africa friendship lies in the people, and the media are an important channel for both sides to communicate and learn from each other, Xi said in his congratulatory message.

China is Africa’s largest trading partner and the trade volume between them amounted to $220 billion in 2014, according to China state news agency Xinhua.

“China’s vote in the United Nations will always belong to the developing countries”, Xi told the general debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.

But Chinese investment in Africa fell by more than 40 percent in the first half of 2015 due to its reduced demand for commodities such as oil, iron ore and copper.