Chinese president Xi Jinping began his historic two-day visit of Zimbabwe Tuesday, signing a number of deals, with a $1.2 billion power plant agreement topping the list.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw the signing of 26 agreements with South African companies and government departments worth 94 billion rand ($6.5 billion) ahead of meetings this week with leaders from across the continent.
Xi comes to South Africa after a daylong visit to neighboring Zimbabwe, where he met with his counterpart, President Robert Mugabe.
Mike Danish, a lecturer with International Relations at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said China’s establishment of new financing mechanisms such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank was a “clear indication that China wants to assist in the reduction of poverty in Africa”.
South African state owned enterprises including Eskom, Transnet, the Industrial Development Corporation, SA National Space Agency and the SA Nuclear Corporation also signed deals with Chinese institutions. “China and Zimbabwe, in spite of the vast distance between them, have maintained a traditional friendship that is deep and firm”, Xi said in an article in the Herald.
Information, Communication and Technology Minister Supa Mandiwanzira said some Chinese investment would be channeled into the communication sector.
Zhang Chun, an expert on Africa at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said China had invited South Africa to join the BRICS bloc, which also includes Brazil, Russia and India. China is the largest buyer of tobacco from Zimbabwe, and – as in many African countries – has invested in mining, manufacturing and infrastructure. U.S. authorities have said they are not considering lifting the sanction on Zimbabwe till the administration spells out reforms.
Homosexuality is not against the law in the country, but LGBT people often face harsh government clampdowns – with Mugabe claiming homosexuality is a filthy disease, and claiming Zimbabwe would “never, never, never” support homosexuality. The two countries also signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation.
“For instance, we have coal, and if Chinese investors can bring in the equipment, then we may generate power to not only Zimbabwe, but other countries in this region”, Chinamasa added.
Xi inspected a guard of honour mounted at Harare airport’s domestic terminal.
Reports show China had poured in as much as US$600m in investment into Zimbabwe by 2013; the figure is expected to have grown significantly in the past two years.
“We should renew our commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, build a new type of global relations featuring win-win cooperation, and create a community of common destiny for mankind”, Xi told the audience.
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Trade between the two slumped 18 percent in the first nine months of 2015 from a year earlier, the largest decline in China’s trade with the world’s continents, according to China’s commerce ministry.
