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. Minister Chinamasa signed two loan agreements for the expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station and TelOne’s fibre optic project with the chairperson of the China Eximbank, Ms Hu Xiaolian.
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Xi travels to South Africa where he will be from Wednesday through Saturday on his second state visit to that country.
Chinese nationals, waving both Zimbabwean and Chinese flags, were also there to welcome Mr Xi.
“It’s very urgent for the developing countries to improve their global communication capability to create a more objective, impartial and balanced worldwide public opinion environment”, said Jiang.
Its investments on the continent range from Zambian power plants, Egyptian trade deals, cobalt mines in Congo, rail links in East Africa and infrastructure in Equatorial Guinea.
I am told there are several bid deals, spanning manufacturing, agriculture and mining, waiting to be signed.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will ask Xi to fund rail and power projects urgently needed to diversify an economy hit hard by a plunge in oil prices, a spokesman said.
Cao said China was working with a team in the financial services sector on the circulation of the Chinese currency, yuan in Zimbabwe and may consider developing models such as the Ethiopian one, where China gives credit and the country may pay back in tobacco for instance.
“Many Chinese businesspeople… will interact with their local counterparts leading to more Chinese investment or joint ventures and business benefits to Zimbabwe”.
Chin’s President Xi Jinping addresses world leaders at the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Le Bourget, outside Paris, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015.
“Relations between South Africa and China are at their best ever”, Zuma told the media.
In practice, China has been providing great assistance for the African countries over the past 60 years, especially the sub-Saharan African countries, which are facing most difficulties in health, poverty-relief and social stability.
During his visit, Xi is also scheduled to meet South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma and co-chair a two-day summit between China and African countries in Johannesburg. Bilateral trade reached $1.24 billion in 2014, marking a year-on-year increase of 12.7 per cent. “Last year Zimbabwe and China agreed to be good friends and brothers on an equal footing”, he said.
According to the Chinese Embassy in Harare, China invested 601 million USA dollars in Zimbabwe in 2013, surpassing Chinese investment in any other African country for the year.
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But analysts cautioned that “as China’s economy slows, and rebalances from investment-driven growth to consumption, so too will its demand for resources” and added that this could harm political regimes in Africa that now largely depended on Chinese resource-extraction centred deals.
