Editorial Comment: Chinese president’s visit milestone for Zimbabwe President Mugabe and President Xi Jinping
President Mugabe and President  Xi Jinping

President Mugabe and President Xi Jinping

CHINA is Zimbabwe’s all weather friend and ties between the two countries date back to the days of the liberation struggle where the Asian nation was among the foremost supporters of freedom fighters. The ruling Chinese Communist party trained guerillas under Zanla in various forms of warfare and the support rendered to the liberation effort was both ideological and logistical. Back then, China was still a struggling developing nation with a burgeoning population and challenges in managing it.

Today, that country still has the world’s largest population of more than 1,375 billion having breached the billion mark in 1982. It is remarkable how China has progressed from being a relatively impoverished nation to the world’s second largest economy through harnessing its human capital and adopting a free market economy but tailoring it to suit its communist ideals. Beijing has shown that it is possible not to mortgage your values, beliefs and sovereignty at the altar of free market proponents from the West who believe that only their models of capitalism work.

China is both the leading producer and consumer of goods and at the rate its economy is growing, predictions are that it will soon overtake the United States as the world’s biggest economy. Its model is being copied successfully by countries such as India whose economies are also growing in leaps and bounds. China’s foothold in Africa has been growing steadily and it has cemented that relationship with major deals in various sectors on the continent.

Zimbabwe and other African countries have a lot to learn from China. Its influence on the continent is immense and Zimbabwe is one of the countries that have struck major deals with China and is set to consummate them soon. Due to the close bi-lateral ties between the two countries, President Robert Mugabe signed mega deals with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a state visit to the Asian country in August last year.

The projects cut across all key economic enablers such as energy and infrastructural development. Chinese company Sinohydro is already working on the Kariba South extension project which will cost $355 million and add 300 megawatts to the national grid.

The same company is also refurbishing the Hwange Thermal Power station and the project is expected to start in earnest next month when the first tranche of $1,1 billion for mega deals is released by Chinese financial institutions. It will add 600MW to the grid. There are other projects in Information Communication Technology and the upgrading of the railway infrastructure that are in the pipeline.

President Xi’s reciprocal state visit to Zimbabwe on December 1 and 2 — the second Chinese leader to visit Zimbabwe after President Jiang Zemin in 1996 — is both historic and crucial as it will set the tone for the accelerated implementation of the mega deals. Apart from deepening political and economic ties between the two nations, the visit will result in far reaching decisions being made.

On Wednesday, Chinese Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Zhang Ming met President Mugabe in Harare and said the visit by the Chinese leader was a major breakthrough in strengthening economic and political ties between the two countries. “The leaders of our two countries will take very important measures and actions to promote the development of this bilateral relationship,” said Zhang. “There will be new breakthroughs in the cooperation between Zimbabwe and China and let’s all look forward to it.”

President Mugabe has already indicated that Zimbabwe is looking forward to President Xi’s visit with great interest. He told reporters in Turkey recently where he was attending the G20 Summit that they would discuss several issues relating to economic development and areas that Zimbabwe would want assistance from China.

“We actually await the visit with very great interest and when he visits us, we shall be discussing some of the projects and programmes we would want China to assist us in undertaking,” President Mugabe said. “It’s more than the visit of the Chinese head of state that is very important to us. We will discuss programmes of cooperation.”

We hail the strong bi-lateral ties between Zimbabwe and China and hope the visit by President Xi will not only cement them but shame the prophets of doom keen to see Zimbabwe’s economy crumble under the weight of sanctions.

China’s foreign policy is premised on mutual respect for the sovereignty and internal affairs of other countries and we are certain it is the reason why many countries in Africa and the wider developing world have an open door policy to Beijing.

President Xi’s visit will shine a spotlight on Zimbabwe and show the world that the country is not only peaceful but open for business. Sino-Zimbabwe relations will reach new highs and the benefits to the economy will be immense.

You Might Also Like

Comments