After his stay in Pretoria, Xi will leave for Johannesburg to co-chair with Zuma the Johannesburg Summit of the FOCAC, with the theme of “Africa-China Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development”.
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Jiang Jianguo, minister of the State Council Information Office, delivers the keynote speech at the China-Africa Media Summit in Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday.
Mr Xi is in Zimbabwe until Wednesday before heading to South Africa for a forum on cooperation between Africa and China as he works to strengthen ties with this continent that is a key supplier to Beijing of oil, minerals, tobacco and cotton.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in South Africa on Wednesday for talks with President Jacob Zuma that are expected to focus on flagging investment and trade worth around $20 billion a year.
“Zimbabwe’s parlous economic situation – a 45 percent decline in GDP between 1999 and 2008, a 90 percent jobless rate, chronic food insecurity, a yawning infrastructure deficit – Xi’s visit raises expectations of what China can, or should, do to help its stricken ally”, said The Source publication in Harare on Tuesday.
Former Zimbabwean ambassador to China, Christopher Mutsvangwa, is ecstatic about Xi’s trip, eulogising that a country that “gives you power (electricity) is a dear friend”.
Chinese and South African officials called for more enhanced media cooperation between China and Africa to have a bigger voice in the world and create “win-win” development for both sides.
China and Zimbabwe are expected to ink a series of cooperation deals covering such fields as infrastructure construction, investment, financing, culture and wildlife protection.
The two nations were due to sign a number of deals in areas including ocean economy, health and medical sciences, energy, and human resources development.
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’s ratio of global trade is significant and it was unnecessary for countries to go through third party currencies, Chanakira said, the cost of trade will be reduced significantly by direct yuan payments. The Chinese president is leading a delegation of 200 people.
Radebe said Africa has been branded as a continent of doom characterised by malnourished babies, poverty, crime, conflict and squalor.
Phyllis Johnson, interim director of the Institute for China-Africa Studies in Southern Africa, said the agreements to be signed on financial support and joint co-operation will take bilateral relations to a much higher level.
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There are already more than 100 Chinese companies investing in Zimbabwe, said Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, “and there is a lot of interest in all sectors of the economy from Chinese investors”.
