adminGuo Shaochun
Special Correspondent
The Chinese Lunar New Year is knocking on our doors again. This holiday season is unlike any other, to cap off a year unlike any other.
Together, we have been through emotions, grief, and loss. In Chinese, the Lunar New Year is called the Spring Festival.
It marks the shift from an all-forbidding winter to a hopeful spring.
On this auspicious occasion, I would like to wish all Zimbabweans and the Chinese community here endurance, strength, health, and as much happiness as these times can allow.
Stronger political ties
In the past year, China-Zimbabwe Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation was elevated to a new level. Our bilateral relationship got off to a powerful start with the visit by China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in January 2020, who was following China’s 30-year diplomatic tradition of the foreign minister visiting Africa to begin the new year’s travel trail.
His visit consolidated mutual trust at the highest level, reaffirmed our commitment to mutual support, and opened up new prospects for our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Over the year, we gave each other support on issues related to our sovereign equality and territorial integrity.
We stood together on the international stage against unilateralism, illegal sanctions, and detractors undermining our countries’ image under the sponsorship of foreign political forces.
Collectively, we lend strength to multilateralism and international solidarity at a time when it was most needed.
Our political parties deepened the exchange of knowledge and experience in state governance and cemented the traditional bonds.
Fight Covid-19 hand in hand
“China stands ready to boost cooperation with Zimbabwe to overcome the ongoing challenge of the COVID-19 epidemic and push for more progress in practical cooperation.”
These are the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping in his letter to President Emmerson Mnangagwa last April on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of China-Zimbabwe diplomatic ties.
At the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against Covid-19 in June, President Xi made the commitment that “China will continue to do whatever it can to support Africa’s response to Covid-19.
China will lose no time in following through on the measures I announced at the opening of the World Health Assembly, and continue to help African countries by providing supplies, sending expert teams, and facilitating Africa’s procurement of medical supplies in China.”
Hundreds of millions of Chinese will never forget that Zimbabwe was among the first in the world to voice support for China’s fight against the pandemic.
Your friendship meant a lot to us in those dark days, especially when some were busy throwing about conspiracy theories and unfounded allegations targeting China.
We have been fully devoted to propping up Zimbabwe’s defensive line as well. Chinese health experts constantly engaged their Zimbabwean counterparts, both online and in the field, to share information and good practices in curbing the pandemic.
Chinese private investors established the state-of-the art Upper East Hospital, which is working day and night to save lives.
Chinese businesses helped to renovate the Wilkins Hospital ahead of the major outbreak in Zimbabwe. Working closely with the Zimbabwean authorities, a Chinese company registered Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese Medicine, in Zimbabwe, which is bringing relief to Covid-19 patients in the country.
On a rough count, China donated a total of 1,69 million masks, more than 51 thousand testing kits, 131 ventilators and oxygenerators, and 141 thousand pieces of other equipment and PPEs have been donated to Zimbabwe.
And most important of all, China is working with Zimbabwe to bring Covid-19 vaccine assistance to the country as early as possible.
Economic cooperation and assistance and people-to-people exchange increased.
To make Zimbabwe’s economy more resilient against the shocks of the pandemic, we strove to maintain good progress at our joint projects, including Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Hwange Thermal Power Station, NetOne Phase III project, and the new Parliament building.
Private investment from China flowed to the agriculture, manufacturing, and health care sectors in the country. And we continued to look for ways to boost Zimbabwe’s agricultural export to China.
We reached out to the vulnerable in Zimbabwe. Under the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund and working with international humanitarian and development agencies, China donated 5 300 tons of rice, 945 tons of pulse, and 472.47 tons of vegetable oil, meeting the basic nutrition need of over 250,000 people.
We repaired housing units, schools, and clinics in Chimanimani and Chipinge battered by Cyclone Idai, benefiting 230 households, 22 schools and supporting 10 units and shelters for 10 community markets and centres in the two areas.
We nurtured the younger generation by upgrading schools, extending Chinese government scholarships to aspiring young Zimbabweans, and holding yet another fantastic Dream Star competition for Zimbabwean talents to stand out.
A challenging but rewarding year for both China and Zimbabwe
Over the past year, the Chinese nation scaled new heights despite enormous obstacles. With the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee, a good governance system and national cohesion, China was the first to tame Covid-19 and restore normalcy to society.
The Chinese economy exceeded the 100 hundred trillion yuan (US$15.4 trillion) mark for the first time, growing by 2.3 percent and becoming the only major economy to report economic growth for 2020. China also became the world’s largest recipient of FDI and maintained stability in its outbound direct investment.
In 2020, China adopted the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, outlining the steps to be taken to strengthen the domestic market, optimise the economic structure, enhance innovation capacity, upgrade the industrial base and modernize the industrial chain, among a number of development targets.
Globally, China continued to play a crucial leadership role. China has been working closely with the WHO and international community to share critical information in an open and transparent manner; China extended material assistance to over 150 countries and 13 international organisations and sent 36 medical expert teams to countries in need, including Zimbabwe.
When many governments are hoarding vaccines for their own populations, the world’s most populous nation committed to making its vaccines a global public good.
We are heartened by the resilience of Zimbabweans as well. Despite the sanctions and the economic and social toll of the pandemic, Zimbabwe introduced a raft of measures that saw the exchange rate and prices stabilising and inflation gradually tamed.
This is a significant development for the Zimbabwean economy to truly recover.
The Government, building on the good foundation laid by TSP, drew up the first of the two five-year blueprints promising to take the country to Vision 2030.
Under NDS1, Zimbabwe is geared up for broad-based transformation, new wealth creation and expanded horizons of economic opportunities for all Zimbabweans.
The pillar sectors in the economy, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and tourism, have all received renewed policy push. The operationalisation of ZIDA will be very important in accessing global capital.
The way forward
On the lunar calendar, February 12 marks the beginning of the year of the ox. The ox is regarded as symbol of diligence, dependability, strength and determination, qualities that have long characterised our bilateral relations.
Already, we are seeing opportunities for renewed vigor in the robust connections between China and Zimbabwe. Last month, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicked off his new year travel agenda with another visit to Africa.
On this trip, he reaffirmed China’s staunch support for Africa in combating the coronavirus and accelerating economic recovery.
As the second wave is hitting Zimbabwe and a number of other African countries hard, China pledged continued medical and material aid, the sharing of expertise through a pairing scheme of Chinese and African hospitals, of which Parirenyatwa is already a member, expedited construction of the Africa CDC, and contribution towards the accessibility and affordability of vaccines on the continent.
Wang also noted China would upgrade its cooperation with Africa and encourage Chinese enterprises to increase investment in Africa, especially in industrialisation.
The areas he outlined — agriculture and food security, industrial capacity, digital technology, regional connectivity, and climate change — fit perfectly well into Zimbabwe’s strategic vision.
Following the policy guideline and dovetailing our respective grand strategies for development, China and Zimbabwe will unlock enormous potential in our bilateral cooperation.
The prospects are exciting and ours to shape. In solid steps, let’s march forward together like the oxes. In unity, we will triumph.
l Guo Shaochun is Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe
Online Reporter