Chinese Leader Stops Off In Zimbabwe Before SA Summit
HARARE – The Chinese president, who is on his way to South Africa for an Africa-China summit, is stopping off in Zimbabwe first, making him what media have called the most important foreign leader to visit the country since independence in 1980, according to news reports Tuesday. On Friday and Saturday Xi Jinping will attend the Forum […]
HARARE – The Chinese president, who is on his way to South Africa for an Africa-China summit, is stopping off in Zimbabwe first, making him what media have called the most important foreign leader to visit the country since independence in 1980, according to news reports Tuesday.
On Friday and Saturday Xi Jinping will attend the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg. Since the establishment of the Forum 15 years ago, trade between Africa and China has apparently risen from $10 billion to $220 billion.
Xi’s five-day visit to Africa comes at a time when many countries are looking for financial support, according to news reports. China supported Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe during the war for liberation in the 1970s, so the countries’ ties go back a long way, and Mugabe visited Beijing 16 months ago.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua said in an editorial this week that Xi’s trip “is set to create historic momentum for bilateral practical cooperation” between Zimbabwe and China.
China is at present Africa’s biggest trading partner, although a recent weakening of the Chinese economy has created fears of a fall-off in trade.