Online Reporter
Nduduzo Tshuma in Beijing, China
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is expected to arrive in Beijing today for the commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, set for Wednesday.
He will join fellow invited Heads of State from 26 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, at Tiananmen Square for a massive military parade and other commemorative activities hosted by China.
The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945) was the first to break out and the longest in the World Anti-Fascist War. According to reports, in 14 years of fighting, 35 million Chinese were killed or wounded. Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, by signing the Instrument of Surrender.
China’s national legislature designated September 3 as Victory Day in 2014, with the country holding its first large-scale parade at Tiananmen Square a year later.
In an interview at the Zimbabwean Embassy here, the country’s envoy to China, Ambassador Abigail Shoniwa, said President Mnangagwa, who left the Vatican last night, is one of a few African leaders invited to the event, signalling deep ties between Harare and Beijing.
“The President’s arrival is awaited and we are very excited. He is coming at the invitation of his counterpart, President Xi Jinping and he will be one of quite a number of Heads of State that are coming,” she said, highlighting cordial relations between the two countries dating back to Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
“Perhaps, I can take the opportunity to add that he is one of the very few African Heads of State coming. China was with us during our liberation struggle and trained some of our liberation fighters and among them, the President.”
Amb Shoniwa recalled President Mnangagwa’s emotional visit last year to the college where he trained during the liberation war, saying Zimbabwe-China relations “have grown stronger” over the decades.
He visited the facility during the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac).
“It was an emotional reunion which I was privileged to witness. Our relationship with China goes a long way and that relationship has grown stronger,” said Amb Shoniwa.
China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei told the media here last Thursday that their victory in the War of Resistance 80 years ago inspired colonised and semi-colonised nations in their struggles for independence and liberation.
Eighty years later, he said, China is willing to work with all parties, including countries in the Global South, to promote an equal and an orderly multipolar world and an inclusive economic globalisation drive that benefits everyone. He said China was also committed to promoting world peace, development and progress. While in Beijing, President Mnangagwa will hold bilateral talks with President Xi to deepen co-operation in key sectors, as well as meet Chinese companies investing in Zimbabwe.
Amb Shoniwa said the visit consolidates the “Five-Star Ironclad” co-operation framework agreed during the President’s 2024
State visit, covering politics, economy and trade, security, culture and international co-ordination.
“China is Zimbabwe’s number one trade partner. Over the years, there have been pronouncements of our relationship being all-weather friends and his (President’s) visit is testimony of that relationship,” she said.
“We are very confident that the engagements will come out good and will make a major difference in our economy and the economic development of our country.”
China has supported Zimbabwe’s various economic sectors towards the realisation of Vision 2030, including Hwange Units 7 and 8 expansion, Kariba South Hydro Power Extension, expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Victoria Falls International Airports, and the construction of a new National Pharmaceutical Warehouse, among other programmes and projects. China remains Zimbabwe’s largest source of investment with cumulative investments exceeding US$4,4 billion, including US$400 million in the past year alone.
In 2024, bilateral trade surged to US$3,8 billion with 24 percent year-on-year growth. In a consolidation of strong relations, President Mnangagwa last month presided over the signing ceremony of a US$55 million Economic and Technical Co-operation Agreement between Zimbabwe and China in Harare. The two countries also exchanged Letters for Food Assistance worth US$6,9 million.
Amb Shoniwa said the people-to-people relations remain very strong in various sectors, with numbers increasing in tourism, while many cultural exchanges are taking place.
“We have quite a number of Zimbabwean students based here, some of them are beneficiaries of scholarships being offered by China. I think we get about 100 scholarships every year from the Chinese embassy,” she said.
“A number have come on their own on private funding, so we have quite a lot of students here. Apart from that, we do have Zimbabweans who have come in and are working in various sectors, while others have partnered locals to establish businesses.”
