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Monica Mutsvangwa

Conrad Mwanawashe, Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE has signed a major trade pact with the World Bank-rated Golden City for Investment Environment in China which seeks to promote investment inflows, trade exchanges and develop economic cooperation.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed yesterday at the Zimbabwe – Qingdao Investment Conference will provide a platform for the business circles of the two sides, the Bureau of Commerce of Qingdao Municipal Government and Zimbabwe, as represented by the Ministry of Macro Economic Planning and Investment Promotion.

The Deputy Minister of Macro Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Monica Mutsvangwa signed the MoU on behalf of the government while the deputy director general of Qingdao Bureau of Commerce Chunyu Xianli signed on behalf of the Chinese city.

The conference and the signing of the MoU was part of a four-day itinerary for the visiting 12-member delegation from China’s Qingdoa City.

Located in eastern China Qingdao was named the Golden City for Investment Environment in China by the World Bank following its tremendous economic growth over the years.

The city has also been named the Best Emerging Business City in China by Fortune China.

The partnership with Qingdao through the MoU links Zimbabwean companies to a network of international businesses such as Haier, Hisense, Tsingtao Beer and Kingking which are based in the Chinese city.

Haier, Hisense, Tsingtao Beer and Kingking have collectively invested in 1158 projects in over 90 countries and regions. The brand names of Qingdao play important roles in international exchanges and communications.

Qingdao is home to 25 444 foreign companies with a total paid-up capital of $60,4 billion. By September last year 242 projects had been set up by 124 overseas Fortune 500 companies in Qingdao.

The city enjoys 12,000km2 of sea area and 863km of coastal line and is home to 30 percent of all the marine science research institutes in Chinese

Mainland with 40 percent of top scientists taking 50 percent of the key national marine scientific research projects. In 2014, Qingdao received 66 million visitors from home and abroad.
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