China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
have had a close, but chequered, relationship since the latter's independence. China has an embassy in
Harare
Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
. Zimbabwe has an embassy in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
and a consulate-general in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
.
History
China–Zimbabwe relations date back to January 1979, during the
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...
. The
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
supported
Joshua Nkomo's
Zimbabwe African People's Union
The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant communist organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with ...
, and supplied them with arms;
Robert Mugabe's attempts to gain Soviet support for his
Zimbabwe African National Union
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings l ...
were rebuffed, leading him to enter into relations with
Soviet rival Beijing, culminating in a January 1979 meeting in
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
in which both sides affirmed their intent to cooperate more closely.
The two countries formally established diplomatic relations on 18 April 1980, the day of Zimbabwe's independence.
Two months later, Zimbabwe's foreign minister
Simon Muzenda
Simon Vengai Muzenda (28 October 1922 – 20 September 2003) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Deputy Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2003 under Preside ...
visited Beijing to express his thanks; he was followed by
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe himself the next year.
Mugabe placed great importance on Zimbabwe's relations with China, especially after the 2003 standoff with the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
resulted in
capital flight and economic depression.
Ties have deepened inline with Zimbabwe's political isolation from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
; China has been described as the "only major international supporter" of Zimbabwe, due to their principle of non-interference in internal affairs such as human rights issues.
However, there are increasing signs that China remain apprehensive about their relations with Zimbabwe and prefer to concentrate their political capital on countries with oil reserves.
Chinese leader Hu Jintao did not visit Zimbabwe on his February 2007 tour of southern Africa, though his schedule took him to a number of countries near Zimbabwe, including
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
,
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, and
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
.
A delegation of Chinese businessmen did visit Zimbabwe around that time; however, the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority put up signs with messages in
Korean to welcome them. Spokesmen stated that they would hire Chinese translators in the future to avoid such errors.
The Zimbabwean side are also ambivalent about the increasing Chinese influence on the economy; Zimbabweans have complained about the low quality of Chinese goods, including buses.
Nyasha Chikwinya, a spokeswoman for Zanu PF Women's League, asserted that the Chinese had become the most active group in the non-official exchange of foreign currency, ahead of
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
ns and
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
ns, and called for those who "fueled the foreign currency black market" to be arrested. Robberies aimed at Chinese businessmen are on the rise.
The
2017 coup in Zimbabwe deposed Mugabe. The new
provisional President
Emmerson Mnangagwa is thought to have a close, if challenging, relationship with China.
In 2022, China gifted Zimbabwe a new parliament building and conference center.
Political ties
Zimbabwe's "Look East" policy, which aimed to expand bilateral and trade relations and offer priority to investors from not just China but Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, India, and Russia, has focused increasingly on China, to the exclusion of other countries. It is reported by
Forum on Africa-China Cooperation that Mugabe's visit in 2006 is his 11th time visiting China. There are no reported official visits to China by Mugabe in 2008 and 2009. The 12th and 13th visits happened in 2010 and 2011. Mugabe also visited China in August 2014. The People's Republic of China's (PRC) stated foreign policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of countries has made them a popular foreign policy partner in Harare.
SONG rights
In June 2020, Zimbabwe was one of 53 countries that backed the
Hong Kong national security law at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.
Economic ties
China has become the biggest buyer of Zimbabwean
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, purchasing over 13,000 tonnes of tobacco between January and October 2007. The Zimbabwean trade deficit with China amounted to
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
189 million in the first half of 2007; Zimbabwe exported US$16 million of goods to China.
The Zimbabwean government also purchases large amounts of military hardware from China, including a US$13 million radar system, six
Hongdu JL-8
The Hongdu JL-8 (Nanchang JL-8), also known as the Karakorum-8 or K-8 for short, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed by China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. ...
jet aircraft, twelve
JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, and 100 military vehicles since June 2004.
The national airline
Air Zimbabwe
Air Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (operating as Air Zimbabwe) is the national carrier of Zimbabwe, headquartered on the property of Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, in Harare. From its hub at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, the Air ...
have also increased their recruitment of Chinese-speaking flight attendants and training of existing flight attendants in the Chinese language, and Zimbabwe, since having been added to China's official list of approved tourism destinations, aims to expand the number of Chinese tourists from 10,000 to 25,000.
Trade is often conducted on barter terms due to Zimbabwe's shortage of hard currency. China are especially interested in Zimbabwe's supply of
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
.
In November 2007 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe bought agricultural equipment from several countries, but mostly from the PRC, and distributed the materials through the Agricultural Mechanization Program. Zimbabwe's Road Motor Services, a subsidiary of the National Railways of Zimbabwe, purchased 97 trucks from the
Camco International, a Chinese manufacturing company, on December 30. The trucks consist of 68 North Benz tractor trucks, 16 North Benz delivery trucks, eight triaxle tipper trailers and five fuel tankers, each type of varying carrying capacity. This shipment is expected to replace the trucks currently used by RMS. RMS previously purchased trucks from Camco in February 2006. Acting President
Joseph Msika praised the Chinese government for its continued support in the face of economic sanctions imposed by Western nations.
In 2015, China accounted for the largest share of
foreign direct investment
A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an ownership stake in a company, made by a foreign investor, company, or government from another country. More specifically, it describes a controlling ownership an asset in one country by an entity based i ...
into Zimbabwe by far (74%).
Chinese development finance to Zimbabwe
From 2000 to 2012, there are approximately 128 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Zimbabwe through various media reports. These projects range from a loan of US$670 million to expand a hydroelectric dam on Lake Kariba, to a US$500 million deal to finance Zimbabwe's local cotton production, or a loan agreement for the provision of agricultural machinery to Zimbabwean farmers. In 2016 the PRC forgave US$40 million in debt.
Culture ties
On January 6, 2010, the Chinese government announced plans to award scholarships to 32 students from Zimbabwe to study in China. The scholarship program was announced by the Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Xin Shunkang.
Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China's Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection
/ref>
Although originally Chinese firms were exempt from Zimbabwe's indigenisation laws they have increasingly come under pressure by 2016 to grant at least 51 percent ownership in local ventures to black Zimbabweans in accordance with indigenisation policies. The South African-based Institute for Security Studies believes that under the leadership
Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations.
"Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
of Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
the PRC's relationship with Zimbabwe has become more distant due to concerns over the long term stability of ZANU-PF rule.
See also
* Zhing-zhong
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:China-Zimbabwe relations
China, Peoples REpublic
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...