CHAMBWA MOONGA
Lusaka
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says given the changing dramatic global geopolitics, it is gratifying that the Chinese market is opening up for African, including Zambian, goods.
The President said this when a Chinese delegation led by Xinjiang chairman Erkin Tuniyaz called on him at State House yesterday.
Xinjiang is a province in north-west China.
“We are very happy [with] the opening up of the Chinese market for African and Zambian goods. We are very happy about that, given the dramatic global geopolitics that are changing.
“It’s important that [there is] this opportunity for us in Zambia [and] on the African continent now to export into the Chinese market without huge restrictions. This is appreciated.
Please, pass this message to President Xi Jinping,” President Hichilema said.
Mr Hichilema asked Chinese businesses to invest, through joint ventures, in Zambia and then export to China and other markets.
“This mutuality is very important,” he said, adding that Zambia and China need to build on their six-decade relationship.
“The TAZARA project is very important to us. We are just about to sign an additional project of rehabilitating TAZARA through the People’s Republic of China, Tanzania and Zambia,” he said.
In September 2023, President Hichilema undertook a state visit to China, where the partnership of the two countries was elevated to a comprehensive, strategic and cooperative status.
“We can see the positive effects of this deepening of our partnership, which we cherish a lot. We want to thank President Xi Jinping for this evolution of our partnership,” the President said.
He also said the tremendous progress that Xinjiang Province has recorded is worthwhile, hence the need to deepen the sub-national partnership.
“We are very keen to further that partnership. On the agriculture side, we like the things that you are doing, including cotton [cultivation].
“The technology that you are applying is very important to our own project – Mulungushi Textiles. So we would like to exploit a deeper relationship on your expertise in areas such as cotton growing and processing,” he said.
President Hichilema added that the technology around solar energy in Xinjiang Province is impressive.
“We would like to do more because we have an energy shortage here,” he said.
Mr Erkin said the purpose of the Chinese delegation’s visit to Zambia is to promote cooperation and collaboration on matters of common interest which were agreed on when President Hichilema visited the Asian country.
“We are here to promote cooperation with Zambia. I have brought with me a delegation of about a dozen of Xinjiang-based enterprises covering areas that you (President Hichilema) have interest in.
“You visited Xinjiang last year and so you have a rough understanding of what our region has. You witnessed the development activities going on in our region,” he said.
Mr Erkin added that the Chinese government, particularly President Xi Jinping, attaches great importance and care to the work relating to Xinjiang.
For regular exchanges and communication with Xinjiang Province around trade, Mr Erkin proposed that there be a structured way of doing things.
“On the Xinjiang side, the provincial foreign affairs office will be the lead competent authority to get in touch with your side,” he said, further applauding Zambia’s firm support for the one China policy.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mulambo Haimbe said the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, will work closely with authorities in Xinjiang Province to promote trade.
Mr Haimbe further said: “We also had a meeting with Chinese ambassador to Zambia relating to the one China policy.
“We reaffirmed the position of Zambia with regards to the one China policy and the principle that we accept and strongly follow the one China policy in our relations with China,” the minister said
