ZIMBABWE and China should establish more areas of co-operation as bilateral relations between Harare and Beijing continue to grow from strength to strength, President Mugabe said yesterday.
The President; who was speaking at State House yesterday where visiting Chinese Vice Minister Jiang Zengwei and his delegation paid a courtesy call on him; said there was need for China and Zimbabwe to explore investment opportunities in the areas of energy, agriculture, infrastructure development and mining among others as Beijing could rely on the educated and skilled manpower among Zimbabweans.
He said Harare would learn from China’s technological advancement.
Vice Minister Jiang had earlier during the day attended the eighth session of the Zimbabwe-China Permanent Joint Commission where discussions to explore ways of co-operation were discussed.
During the session, Mr Jiang signed a US$ 1,5 million facility with Health and Child Welfare Minister Dr Henry Madzorera for the construction of a hospital at Mahusekwa and supply of medical drugs.
"The land, which was in the hands of the British, was taken and it is now in the hands of our people. But they now need equipment and the necessary capital to capacitate them. We need investment in agriculture, the sub-sectors mainly tobacco, cotton, maize, livestock and horticulture," President Mugabe said.
The President said through increased co-operation, Zimbabwe needed beneficiation of its products to realise maximum value.
He said Zimbabwe is endowed with natural resources but their exploitation was being hindered by poor infrastructure such as bad roads.
"We need some expansion that requires capital investment, irrigation schemes must be improved, we have a number of rivers, a criss-cross of rivers large and small but since we are a tropical country, we receive rains once a year and water goes," he said.
He said while Zimbabwe was more industrialised than some average African countries, more still needed to be done to improve the manufacturing sector.
Turning to the diplomatic relations between Zimbabwe and China, the President said Harare would continue to strengthen ties with its allies and ignore Western countries that sought to unjustifiably vilify it.
"They imposed sanctions on us and travel bans. I have no appetite for America, but I have an appetite for my country and my friends like China," he said.
He scoffed at the decision by the United States administration to place him and the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe on the list of individuals believed to have funded terrorists.
President Mugabe said former US president George W. Bush should instead be regarded as a terrorist for causing the death of former Iraq leader Saddam Hussein under the pretext that he harboured weapons of mass destruction.
"There are people in Washington who think they have the divine right to judge on people. To say these are the good people of the world, these are the bad people, to say Zimbabwe is on the axis of evil together with Cuba, that is Bush acting as God," he said.
"We will stand by what is right even if we are to fall. Mao (Zedong) taught us to stand by that which is right, principles."
In his response, Mr Jiang hailed Zim-China bilateral relations saying Harare had remained resolute in pursuit of democracy.
"Zimbabwe has got great respect because of its history in fighting colonialism," he said.
Mr Jiang said China had continued to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Zimbabwe, particularly in engineering.
He said negotiations were underway between Zimbabwe and Chinese companies for joint ventures in the tobacco and cotton indus-
tries, among others.
"In the near future, Exim Bank (the Export-Import Bank of China) will send a delegation to Zimbabwe for discussions on investment. We also need to deepen co-operation on mining, (and) tourism," he said.
In his speech at the official opening of the Joint Commission, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi outlined the support Zimbabwe had received from China.
This includes the US$200 million Buyer’s Credit Facility extended by China’s Exim Bank to procure agricultural equipment.
The bank also extended a US$60 million concessionary loan to Farmers’ World to buy more farming implements.
"The payment of the arrears and extension of the repayment period on the US$200 million Buyer’s Credit Loan have paved the way for increased co-operation between Zimbabwe and China," he said.
Zimbabwe had also benefited from the eight measures announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose implementation has seen the construction of two primary schools in Bindura and Warren Park, the Agricultural Demonstration Centre at Gwebi College and the state-of-the-art Sino-Zimbabwe Friendship Hospital in Mahusekwa.
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