Online Reporter
Tawanda Musarurwa in BEIJING
ABOUT 30 fiscal, tax and monetary policy experts drawn from various public sector entities and departments are spending two weeks here at a seminar designed to sharpen the tools Zimbabwe uses to manage its public finances.
The programme, titled Fiscal, Tax and Monetary Policies for Zimbabwe, is being hosted by the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE).
For CUFE, the seminar is as much about building relationships as it is about transferring knowledge.
“Through this seminar, we hope to systematically share China’s policy practices and development experience in public finance management, fiscal performance evaluation and budget execution, to enhance further mutual understanding and practical exchanges between the two countries,” said Mr Li Hanjun, the secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Continuing Education at CUFE.
He suggested that the experiences of the two countries, despite their differences in scale, may overlap in useful ways.
“China, like many developing countries, faces some common challenges and problems in the process of economic and social development,” he said.
“This seminar provides a window and platform for both China and Zimbabwe to explore development plans in depth.”
That framing — of two countries comparing notes rather than one instructing the other — was picked up by Zimbabwe team leader Mr Ngoni Manyika, who described the visit in terms of partnership.
“True progress comes from togetherness and cooperation. Our presence here reflects that spirit; we are stronger when we learn from one another and work side by side,” he said.
Mr Manyika went further, describing the delegation’s presence in Beijing as an exchange between equals, even as Zimbabwean officials look to absorb lessons from China’s experience.
“Zimbabwe comes to this seminar with both humility and confidence — humility to learn from China’s remarkable journey of reform and modernisation and confidence to share our own progress in aligning fiscal and monetary policies with our Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy,” he said.
Professor Zhong Qi, from CUFE’s School of Foreign Languages, offered a similar view from the host side, framing the seminar’s value as running in both directions.
“We not only wish to share with you China’s practices and insights in the field of fiscal and taxation, but also sincerely look forward to hearing and learning from the valuable experience and unique perspectives of our Zimbabwean counterparts,” he said.
The exchange has not been confined to lecture halls. On Friday, the Zimbabwean delegation toured the CUFE History Museum, where displays chart the university’s evolution from its founding to its present-day role as a centre for international training.
CUFE was established in 1949, shortly after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and was initially placed under the management of the Ministry of Finance — a history that has shaped its identity as an institution closely tied to the machinery of public finance.
In the years since 2006, that role has expanded considerably. CUFE has completed 113 training programmes for more than 2 900 government officials drawn from 116 countries, building a track record of which the current Zimbabwean cohort will become a part.
The seminar began on June 12 and runs until June 25.
