China’s Xi in South Africa for talks with Zuma, trade summit

Mugabe said he would discuss with Xi various cooperation projects aimed at accelerating his country’s socio-economic development.

Xi arrived in Harare on Tuesday.

Speaking at a banquet hosted for the Chinese leader and his delegation last night, shortly after signing several agreements among them a $1.4 billion deal for upgrading the Hwange Thermal Power station, Mr. Mugabe said he was excited significant progress had been made in the implementation of projects agreed between China and Zimbabwe.

The two countries signed agreements in various sectors including a waiver of visa requirements for diplomatic and official passport holders, the establishment of a China Cultural Centre in South Africa and cooperation between South African and Chinese revenue and customs departments. Trade between South Africa and China more than doubled in the four years to 2013 to 271 billion rand ($19 billion), the South African statistics office said.

This is Xi’s first visit to the African country and also the first state visit by a Chinese president to Zimbabwe since 1996. According to Independent Media’s Group Foreign Editor Shannon Ebrahim, “The commitment of the People’s Republic of China to Africa’s development imperatives are a game changer on the continent, as with its assistance Africa will be able to leverage the necessary skills, finance, and technology to define its destiny”.

Numerous Chinese news crews are accompanying Xi on his visit to Pretoria.

Zimbabwe’s economy is struggling to emerge from a recession between 1999-2008, which saw gross domestic product shrink by 45 percent.

“Considering what has happened with past deals, we are sceptical of promises of big, megaprojects”.

“China lauded the role Mugabe has played in safeguarding African unity and promoting development of the continent as the rotating chairman of the African Union”, said Xi in a snub to Western nations who have imposed sanctions on leaders in the country, including Mugabe himself. “We have had a lot of Chinese involvement before, but little improvement has happened”.

Mugabe, who has often been accused of repression and human rights abuses, was in October awarded the Confucius Peace Prize, a would-be Chinese rival to the Nobel Prize.

China Africa Sunlight Energy, a 50/50 joint venture between Zimbabwe’s Old Stone Investments and Shandong Taishan Sunlight of China, plans to spend US$2,1 billion in the next five years on power generation, coal mining and methane bed gas extraction in Matabeleland North.

For years, the consolidation of Sino-African relations has been the cornerstone of China’s diplomacy; never forgetting African brothers reflects the Chinese people’s faith over never forgetting about its past sufferings.

China also offered to fund the construction of a new parliament building and pledged to donate equipment for the protection of wildlife.