Mr. Mugabe said the two countries were collaborating in projects in nearly every sector.
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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.
China is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest trading partner, but accounts for the biggest share of the small foreign investment pie attracted to Harare since its fallout with the West after 2000. Bongo said he had witnessed the enormous changes taking place in China since his first visit in 1975.
The people of Zimbabwe are now rejoicing over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, branding him a “savior” who will save the country’s faltering economy by bringing in million of dollars in investments.
Chinese ambassador to Harare Huang Ping said that China is Zimbabwe’s biggest foreign investor, pumping in $600 million in 2013.
“China and South Africa relations are at a new historical level”.
“China-South Africa relations have gone beyond the bilateral scope and gained growing strategic significance and global impact”, Xi said.
“Such initiatives are a clear departure from Beijing’s aversion to military or security intervention in Africa”, said Mr Lyle Morris, a project associate at RAND Corp, citing in particular the military assistance Mr Xi pledged in September.
But Africa is already feeling the pinch, with Chinese investment falling by more than 40 percent in the first half of 2015, according to official data. As Africans we look forward to expanding our cooperation with China in line with “Africa’s Agenda 2063 – The Africa we want” priorities, particularly in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure, industrialisation, public health, education, green energy, agriculture, and human resource development.
China will also help to build a auto manufacturing plant on South Africa’s coast which should begin exporting vehicles to other African countries by the end of 2017. Over the years, the forum has become a crucial platform for collective dialogue between China and Africa and an effective mechanism for closer practical cooperation, Xi noted.
Despite the slowdown in its economy, China is expected to finance industrialization projects in African countries, according to Danish.
“We are all duty-bound to ensure that the benefits of this unprecedented economic growth are translated into real socio-economic development for all our people”, he said.
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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.
