adminKudzanai Gerede
As the People’s Republic of China President, Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit into the country on December 1, for a two day State visit, fast approaches, the country’s business sector is buoyant ahead of the reciprocal gesture by the Chinese leader following President Mugabe’s visit late last year which saw multi-billion dollar projects being signed between the two nations.
President Xi Jinping’s two day stay will be the second of a Chinese leader in the country since President Jiang Zemin’ s visit in 1996 and will see Presidents Mugabe and Xi accompany each other to South Africa where the two are expected to attend the 6th ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in that country.
But what is the significance of President Xi’s visit to the country? Barely three decades ago, China, was in the bracket of least developed nations and harboured a surging population too huge for its then lean economy to sustain.
Following years of innovation, resilience and massive investment into its human capital which subsequently led to a successful industrial transformation across all sectors of its economy, China today stands the world’s second largest economy after the United States of America, with economic pointers showing that it will surpass the US to become the world’s biggest economy in the next decade.
According to the World Bank, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at US$ 10,4 trillion in 2014 constituting 16,7 % of the world economy.
China’s rise into a global economic and political giant has been anchored on good bilateral relations with the rest of the world cutting across geo-political divides with an earnest and reverent attitude towards nations they seek to establish cooperation with, a stark contrast to the bullish attitude displayed by the Western elites over the ages when dealing with least developed partners.
Whereas the West has lost almost “exclusive rights” to Africa’s raw materials as a result of the colonial past which had inculcated the “horse and rider” attitude towards the later, China’s approach has been of creating a brotherhood-like relation with Africa and that has seen the Asian giant’s footprint on the African Safari being the most dominant external feature in recent years.
In 2009 China surpassed the US to be the continent’s top trade partner with trade between China and sub-Saharan Africa standing at approximately US$ 200 billion in 2013, from less than $ 10 billion in 2002 and is currently Zimbabwe’s third largest trade partner after South Africa and the European Union.
China today boasts of large financial reserves for investment in all key economic sectors having witnessed its investment into extractive industries nearly doubling from the figures of 2014 across the African continent. It is also the world’s largest receiver of foreign direct investment due to its large industrial opportunities and viable business environment which have seen a significant number of European and American firms relocating to China
“The Chinese President’s visit is very pertinent at this point in time considering the need to advance the mega deals that were signed by the President in his visit to China some time ago,” National Economic Consultative Forum, economist Mr Pepukai Chivore noted.
“There is need to finalise on those mega deals especially considering we are implementing ZIMASSET and there are funding constraints. Lately funding has been solely coming from treasury so the visit will definitely help unlock some of the much needed resources to finance ZIMASSET,” he said.
He said Sino-Zim relations come a long way with the Asian giant having provided the olive branch for Zimbabwe during the Western sanctions induced harsh economic epoch.
“They do not impose political conditions for them to invest in a country, other economic power houses dictate who they want at the negotiating table which seriously compromises sovereignty of other nations,” he added.
Contrary to negative perceptions with regards to Chinese investment that it was skewed towards extraction of raw materials, there is enough evidence dispelling this notion. “China’s investment is very diversified,” Chivore notes.
“They showed keen interest in energy sector, they are working with government on the expansion of the Kariba South to mitigate power deficits, they are into manufacturing, construction and pharmaceuticals as well.”
According to the Zimbabwe tourism Authority first half performance statistics, Chinese arrivals into the country grew by 46 percent from the previous year and a survey by the ZTA revealed the majority chunk of those came for business purposes.
President Xi’s visit comes at a time when the two nations business stakeholders met this Tuesday for the Zimbabwe-China investment conference, were key areas in dire need of investment were laid out with deliberations and strategies took place.
Since the country embarked on the Look East Policy in 2003, Sino-Zimbabwe relations have been the most notable amongst other trade and bilateral engagements with other Asian nations and the coming in of President Xi for the first time since adopting the policy sends a strong message about the level of cooperation between the two countries.
Online Reporter