Zimbabwe can't afford to ignore China

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa says Zimbabwe cannot afford to ignore the need to deepen economic and trade relations with China, the world's biggest economy and consumer of most of its primary exports.

Chinamasa made the said that the entire world is looking East, so, "little Zimbabwe" cannot afford to overlook China's economic importance.

The minister said the global frenzy regarding trade with China was in recognition of the country's position in the global economy following its impressive growth over 30 years when it grew consecutively by over 10 percent.

The Asian economic giant, with gross domestic product of over $10 trillion, is now the world's second biggest economy after the US at $17,3 trillion.

Chinamasa said China is the biggest consumer of most primary commodities that Zimbabwe produces, hence the need to build strong ties, but pointed out that value adding the primary exports was critical to cushion the country from price instability.