SA signs deals worth $6.5 bln on Xi’s visit

China’s President Xi Jinping to visit Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe greeted Mr Xi at the airport, where he inspected a guard of honour.

President Xi will pay a state visit to Zimbabwe Dec. 1 – 2 on his way to South Africa for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, making it the fourth African country he has visited since assuming office.

During his stay, President Xi and his Zimbabwean counterpart President Mugabe oversaw the signing of 12 agreements between Zimbabwe and China – two of which are private sector driven.

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. He said Zimbabwe was seeking financial support from the Chinese to convert the country’s vast natural resources into wealth.

“As for whether China will continue to provide support and aid, there will be no doubt about it”, Zhang said, without divulging details on the aid amount and its goal.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, the first visit by a Chinese leader since 1996, amid expectations this would lead to the signing of infrastructure funding and investment agreements.

Highlighting steady bilateral cooperation between the two countries, Zuma welcomed more investment from China and hoped the two sides could promote more fruitful cooperation in such areas as trade, technology, energy, marine products, commercial aviation and financing.

“The visit of President Xi is going to consolidate and cement some of the agreements and in fact undertaking also to further co-operate with respect to those agreements which are not yet mature for signing at this moment”, Chinamasa said. Since the establishment of FOCAC fifteen years ago, the trade volume between China and Africa has jumped from US$10bn to US$220bn. “It’s only in the past 6 and 7 years that we have started an economic relationship”, the finance minister said.

While Beijing has traditionally maintained a policy of non-interference, staying out of Africa’s political affairs, its decision to establish a permanent representative at the African Union’s headquarters in Ethiopia may signal stronger political interaction, the South African Institute of International Affairs said.

China is the largest buyer of tobacco from Zimbabwe, and – as in many African countries – has invested in mining, manufacturing and infrastructure.

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.