Online Reporter
Tichaona Zindoga, Correspondent
At the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac), President Xi Jinping announced that the two sides agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. President Mnangagwa was among the leaders present at the summit.
Consequently, the launch ceremony of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges was recently held at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, with participants calling for deepening dialogue between the two civilisations.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister and top diplomat read out a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping at the event and delivered a keynote speech.
Wang, who was also in Africa for the traditional first tour of the year, which Chinese foreign ministers undertake, said that launching the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is an important initiative jointly agreed upon by the Chinese president and African leaders.
President Xi’s letter elaborated on the significance of mutual learning among civilisations in advancing China-Africa modernisation and outlined the direction and principles of China-Africa people-to-people and cultural co-operation, which demonstrated deep reflections on human history and civilisation and provided important guidance for building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
The decision to designate 2026 as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is not just a symbolic gesture. It is a strategic intervention that will strengthen China-Africa relations and partnerships, beginning with the people — and how countries, including Zimbabwe, will treat this development could shape the future of co-operation.
Some countries in Africa, such as South Africa, have begun unveiling activities in line with this thrust for the year.
For Zimbabwe, which enjoys deep and historic relations with China, the initiative presents an opportunity to consolidate bilateral ties. The people should be at the centre. This is especially important against the background that a lot of interaction between the two sides have been through diplomacy and economics, which have tended to be elitist. In the media and public sphere, too, no serious attempts have been made to highlight, showcase and encourage more people-to-people exchanges. Instead, conflicts and misunderstandings have been given prominence.
There has been a gap in the interaction of ordinary people from both sides at people-to-people level, and efforts to forge closer cooperation are yet to bear fruit. At the same time, negative forces in the media and some foreign agents have been working overtime to drive a wedge between Zimbabweans and Chinese counterparts at various levels.
People’s diplomacy
People-to-people exchanges have long been a central pillar of China’s foreign policy. Often described as people’s diplomacy, the approach complements formal state engagement by fostering trust, mutual understanding and public legitimacy at the grassroots level.
Historical precedents illustrate its effectiveness. In the 1970s cultural, academic and sporting exchanges created human bridges that made political normalisation possible between China and the United States of America.
Within the China-Africa framework, people-centred engagement has been progressively institutionalised through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Youth exchanges, vocational training programmes, cultural cooperation and media dialogue have become integral to the partnership.
In Zimbabwe, the need for this human-centred approach is evident. While official relations with China remain strong, societal perceptions are more complex. Misunderstanding, mistrust and at times xenophobic or Sinophobic sentiments can undermine the broader partnership if left unaddressed.
These challenges are often rooted not in ideology, but in everyday interactions — in workplaces, communities and online spaces where cultural differences, language barriers and misinformation can easily distort perceptions.
The Year of People-to-People Exchanges offers Zimbabwe a structured opportunity to address these issues through dialogue rather than denial, and through engagement rather than silence.
Government has a central role to play. A coordinated national approach involving foreign affairs, education, higher education, youth, culture, tourism and information ministries is essential to ensure coherence and impact.
Chinese enterprises operating in Zimbabwe must also recognise that commercial success is inseparable from social legitimacy. Community engagement, skills transfer, cultural sensitivity and transparent communication should be treated as strategic investments, not public relations add-ons.
The media occupies a particularly influential position. Balanced reporting, journalist exchanges and collaborative storytelling can help counter misinformation and present a more nuanced picture of Zimbabwe-China relations.
Academia and think tanks are equally critical. Research, policy dialogue and intellectual exchange provide the evidence base required to inform public debate and guide decision-making.
International experience demonstrates that people-to-people initiatives work best when they are sustained, reciprocal and locally embedded. Vocational training partnerships, youth leadership exchanges and long-term academic collaboration have delivered tangible social and economic dividends elsewhere.
Zimbabwe should therefore treat 2026 not as a one-off commemorative year, but as a catalyst for institutionalising people-centred diplomacy beyond the calendar.
By investing in social trust, cultural literacy and mutual understanding, Zimbabwe can help ensure that its relationship with China remains resilient, inclusive and aligned with national development objectives.
In an era where perceptions matter as much as policies, and where global narratives travel faster than facts, strengthening people-to-people ties is no longer optional. It is a strategic imperative.
Meanwhile, as the Year of the Horse — in the Chinese Lunar Year — beckons, Zimbabwe and China are all but set for greater cooperation with China leading new pathways in global developments in the face of unprecedented changes in the international landscape.
Already, Zimbabwe-China economic cooperation has been on an upward trajectory with record trade, investments and projects that have allowed Zimbabwe to not just survive the era of sanctions imposed 25 years ago, but to build on the pivot to China, to the extent of achieving positive balance of trade.
The synergising of economic planning between Zimbabwe and China, as the two countries embark on new economic trajectories in the period 2026-2030, will result in more profound results with mutual benefits and win-win outcomes.
According to experts on this interesting astrological tradition, in Chinese and global politics signifies intense dynamism, rapid change, and bold action, blending the Horse’s freedom with Fire’s passion, historically linked to revolutionary transformations, innovation and potential global upheaval in politics and economics.
We are told that it’s seen as a time for activism, technological leaps and potential economic instability, as well as major shifts amidst geopolitical tension.
Already, China has been conscious of the upheavals in the global order, and have over the years proposed a number of initiatives and offering tempering opinions on major conflicts and flashpoints, which could be a basis for an alternative path of stability.
Bongani Ndlovu