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| The Zambian ministers upon arrival in China last week |
By Paul Shalala
Zambia’s 10 Provincial Minister are on a 10 day visit to
China to learn how that country has pulled millions of its citizens out of
poverty.
According to Zambia's constitution, Provincial Ministers, who are either elected or nominated Members of Parliament, are at the same level with Deputy Ministers and they do not attend Cabinet meetings.
The Ministers, who left for the Asian country over a week
ago, are meeting various delegations of Chinese investors, learning how they
are boosting that country’s manufacturing sector.
And China’s Assistant Commerce Minister Bingnan Wang told the
ministers on Tuesday that trade volumes increased by 18.4% between January and
September 2015 pushing the amount of trade between the two countries to $US 2.1
billion
According to Zambia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
Dorcas chileshe who is travelling with the Ministers, Mr Wang said 570 Chinese
companies had invested in Zambia in agriculture, manufacturing,
mining, ICT and other sectors.
And Zambian delegation leader Nathaniel Mubukwanu expressed
appreciation to the Chinese government for having extended an invitation to the
Zambian delegation to participate in the 2016 Ministerial workshop.
Mr Mubukwanu, who is also Western Province Minister, informed the Chinese Minister that the
increase in trade volumes in 2015 was as a result of Zambia 's business
reform improvements.
He expressed confidence that the workshop would accord his
delegation a deeper appreciation of how China had accelerated her
development over the last 30 years.
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| Part of the ministers in class in Beijing |
Last week, Copperbelt Province Minister Bowman Lusambo shared on
social media some of the lessons he and his fellow ministers are learning in
China.
“I was elated to learn that
Agriculture is a vital industry in China, employing well over 300 million
farmers. The country is the number one producer of rice, wheat, potatoes,
tomato, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton and oil seed including
soyabeans,” said Mr Lusambo in a posting on Facebook.
During the visit to China, the Zambian delegation will visit
various companies in and outside the Chinese capital Beijing.
The ministers have since concluded their tour of Beijing
and have moved to Shandong province on their continued tour of the Chinese countryside
to meet more potential Chinese investors.
Zambia and China have been long standing partners since
the southern African country’s independence in 1964.
China built the TAZARA railway which links Zambia to the
Tanzanian port of Dar Es Salaam which handles the country’s oil imports.
The Asian giant has also invested millions of dollars in
infrastructure projects in sectors such as agriculture, roads, stadiums,
schools, mines and health.
Over the past 10 years, China has become a major player in
Zambia with its ruling Communist party forging closer ties with each successive
government.
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| On a tour of Beijing Guchuan Food Company |
This has included exchange visits by party functionaries
to learn various political theories and policy issues in China.
High level Chinese delegations, including the visit by
that country’s Vice President in 2014, have been to Zambia to cement the two
countries’ relations.
Zambia has also benefited from several concessional loans and currently, Chinese companies are building two modern international airports in the capital Lusaka and in the second city Ndola.
Within Ndola, the Chinese built the 60,000 capacity Levy Mwanawasa stadium which they gave free of charge to the Zambian government a few years ago.
Meanwhile, the number of Chinese nationals living and working in
Zambia has increased over the years.
Last year, the Zambian Ministry of Home Affairs disclosed
that there were 19, 845 Chinese citizens in the country.
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