Online Reporter
Tichaona Zindoga
From Beijing with love. The letter written by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Zimbabwe’s liberation fighters, who received training in China and came back to fight for Zimbabwe’s independence is significant in two major ways.
First, it was a rare exchange of love letters, in a symbolic sense, and an expression of time honoured affection between China and Africa, which was forged in the crucible of liberation struggles, common histories and the common denominator of ending centuries of foreign humiliations.
China was a victim of imperialism and colonialism, plunder and subjugation before achieving Independence. Africa followed similar paths, striving against foreign powers.
Secondly, President Xi’s letter was a reaffirmation of friendship, signalling continuity. In it, China not only assured that the past was alive and held dearly, but also asserted that the future was full of opportunity and needed direction and definition.
Juxtaposing the past and the future not only attests to a great degree of consciousness. It is an exercise in pragmatism and acknowledging the reality of change, as measured by time as well as various lived dynamics.
President Xi has notably made continued reference to how the world is experiencing unprecedented changes unseen in a century, which is a call to tackle new realities head on.
For China-Zimbabwe relations to remain strong and relevant, they must be subjected to critical evaluation and finding answers and solutions to new developments and dynamics.
In his letter President Xi reveals this inflection point by telling the veterans that, “In your younger years, for the great cause of national liberation, you journeyed far away from home, and developed an enduring bond and camaraderie with China.
Today, you continue to keep a special place in your heart for China’s friendship with Zimbabwe and with Africa at large… I hope, as veterans, you will help bring more young Africans on board to nurture China-Zimbabwe and China-Africa friendship.”
He also stressed the need to “write new chapters in the annals of China-Africa friendship” — a call for sustained continuity and further development in relations between China and African countries, including Zimbabwe.
New reference points
President Xi’s carefully chosen words carry profound significance and far-reaching implications.
While Zimbabwe-China relations have largely been framed in historical terms, it is crucial to develop new reference points, and a pivot for future development. Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Zhou Ding aptly captured this essence in his remarks and subsequent op-ed in The Herald, noting that President Xi “has always underscored (that) each generation has its own mission” and that war veterans were the pioneers and living witnesses of this cherished historic friendship whose sacrifices laid the enduring foundation for this precious bond.
Said Ambassador Zhou: “To the young friends present here: you are the torchbearers and successors of this great relationship. We now entrust this torch to your hands. Carry its flame forward with courage and vision, and write its new and vibrant chapters for generations to come.”
Last year, my organisation produced a documentary celebrating the 45th Anniversary of Zimbabwe-China relations, which has since been aired on national television and received widespread acclaim.
One of the questions underpinning the documentary was what the future held for Zimbabwe-China relations, as we move forward; and it is young people who hold the key to shaping the future and forging new historical paths, just as their predecessors did.
Yet, clearly, circumstances have changed from the challenges of the earlier era — when China itself was poorer even — to the present where both sides boast far greater opportunities and capacity for co-operation. There is a moment waiting to be seized; a history to be rewritten.
What are some of the key issues for the present generation? Zimbabwe, like the rest of Africa, counts its youth dividend as its most valuable strategic asset. Young people are more educated, more mobile and more outward-looking than any previous generation. In Zimbabwe, as in China, youths are growing up in an era defined by the ubiquity of digital technologies, social media and increasingly artificial intelligence.
These technologies have collapsed distance, accelerated the flow of ideas and created unprecedented opportunities for collaboration in innovation, entrepreneurship, culture and knowledge production.
Unlike the past, such interactions are no longer limited to state-to-state, party-to-party or formal diplomatic channels — they now take place daily, directly and informally, among students, creators, start-ups, researchers and communities.
Globalisation has further multiplied these points of contact. There are now more platforms for exchange, learning and co-operation than ever before — from university partnerships and online classrooms to business incubators, cultural festivals and virtual networks.
People-to-people exchanges have injected fresh dynamism into China–Zimbabwe relations, ensuring that the relationship is increasingly shaped by shared interests, practical co-operation and mutual curiosity rather than narrow ideological considerations. Friendships are formed not just in training camps or official delegations, but in lecture halls, factories, tech hubs and digital spaces.
For the youth, taking the torch of friendship means grounding China–Zimbabwe relations in these new realities. It means moving from inherited narratives to co-created futures, where co-operation is driven by problem-solving, innovation and shared prosperity.
By embracing technology, leveraging global connectivity and deepening people-to-people engagement, young Zimbabweans and Chinese can redefine the partnership for their time — one that honours the past, but is firmly oriented towards the possibilities of the future.
At 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China Africa Co-operation (Focac) — the latest session of the forum — the question of youth participation in China-Africa co-operation was clearly addressed. The Partnership Action for People-to-People Exchanges was announced as one of the 10 focal areas for China-Africa co-operation.
Under this partnership area, it was stated that China will implement with Africa more solidly the Future of Africa — Vocational Education Co-operation Plan, establish together an engineering technology academy, and build ten Luban Workshops.
China pledged to provide 60 000 training opportunities to Africa, mainly for women and youths. It also said it would launch a China-Africa Cultural Silk Road Initiative, alongside a co-operation program on innovation in radio, television and audiovisual content.
Most notably, the two sides agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges — a landmark initiative to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the start of China-Africa diplomatic relations.
Consequently, activities for the year have already begun. Zimbabwean and Chinese stakeholders need to seize this momentum to shape policies, programmes and plans that maximise the participation and agency of young people.
It also goes without saying that currently young people are not mainstreamed in major economic activities between China and Zimbabwe, which has engendered a sense of exclusion, especially as the focus has been in large-scale, capital-intensive extractive and manufacturing industries.
To address this, greater focus should be placed on initiatives that support skills development, capacity building and the cultivation of new productive forces.
Zimbabwe’s majority rural population should be empowered with skills, technologies and resources to advance rural modernisation and upliftment, which is in part conceived under the Luban Workshop concept.
Local enterprise development in areas close to Chinese investments — which is being pioneered by Dinson Iron and Steel Company, for example, should be rolled out widely, while the vision of rural revitalisation must be youth centric to retain and even attract young people to village economies.
While a significant number of Zimbabweans have gone to China on scholarships and learning trips and exchange programmes, it would also be valuable to welcome young Chinese professionals to Zimbabwe to share experiences and support the development of localised models, spanning from rural communities to urban tech hubs.
Equally important is the development of robust media and think tank sectors, which play a vital role in framing narratives, reporting on local developments and identifying targeted solutions.
Already, these sectors were identified at Focac as critical and key priorities, and leveraging their strengths will be crucial, as information and knowledge are the cornerstones of successful co-operation programmes.
The 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is more than a milestone for the 70th anniversary of China-Africa diplomatic relations — it is a golden opportunity to redefine China-Zimbabwe co-operation for a new era.
For this vision to take root, young people must not be mere participants, but core architects of the bilateral partnership: shaping policies that center youth development, building localised models that bridge rural and urban progress, and fostering people-to-people bonds that transcend formal diplomacy into daily collaboration.
The historical bond forged by liberation struggles provides an enduring foundation, but it is the innovation, energy and shared ambition of young Zimbabweans and Chinese that will write the vibrant new chapters of China-Zimbabwe friendship President Xi has called for.
Media and think tanks will stand as critical pillars in this exciting journey, framing authentic narratives of co-operation and driving solution-oriented action for local development.
As we build on the 45 years of China-Zimbabwe relations and seize the momentum of Focac’s commitments, the path forward is clear: empower the youth, leverage the youth dividend, and let the flame of friendship burn brighter across generations.
For in the hands of young people lies not just the future of China-Zimbabwe relations, but the promise of an all-weather community with a shared future for China and Africa.
n Zindoga is a leading media expert on Zimbabwe-China relations, and director of the Harare-based Ruzivo Media & Resource Centre
