Pomp, fanfare for Xi's Zimbabwe visit

CHINESE President Xi Jinping arrives in Harare today at the start of a historic two-day State visit which is set to elevate bilateral relations and entrench economic ties between the two countries. President Robert Mugabe will roll out the reddest of red carpets to the leader of the world's second biggest economy, but away from the elaborate pageantry planned for President Xi, Zimbabwe is hoping to reap huge economic benefits for its economy.

This would only be the second time a sitting Chinese President has visited Zimbabwe, after President Jiang Zemin in 1996. President Xi's visit comes after President Mugabe visited China last year on a State visit that saw the two countries signing mega deals in the energy, infrastructure development, agriculture and transport sectors.

The two leaders will, during President Xi's visit, bring their officials together to ensure the mega deals move into the implementation stage. Opposition parties were falling over each other yesterday, dismissing President Xi's visit as "inconsequential".

But Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity Simon Khaya Moyo said the opposition parties' rants were not to be entertained simply because "President Xi's visit is at the invitation of President Mugabe, the head of State and Government and not at the invitation of opposition parties."

Khaya Moyo, who is also minister of Policy Co-ordination and Promotion of Social Economic Ventures in the President's Office, said the Chinese President's visit is symbolic of the strong ties that the two countries enjoy, relations that trace their roots to the days of the liberation struggle.

"The party is excited by the visit of this great man. We must recognise that China is our all weather friend who gave us assistance during the liberation struggle and continues to assist us in economic emancipation particularly the implementation of ZimAsset," he said.

"We've maintained excellent relations with China and they've over the years proven to be true friends even vetoing, with the assistance of Russia, onslaughts by Western countries at the United Nations against Zimbabwe.

"The two countries have a well developed friendship and this State visit must be celebrated by all patriotic Zimbabweans." President Xi, ahead of his visit, said China firmly supports Zimbabwe's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests and its choice of the development path that suits its national conditions.

He said projects funded and undertaken by China such as the expansion of the Victoria Falls Airport and the Kariba South Hydro power station as well as the transformation of TelOne would boost key infrastructure projects with a significant bearing on Zimbabwe's economic performance.

President Xi said consolidation of relations with Zimbabwe and other African nations remained a cornerstone of China's foreign policy. He said China values the important contribution to the solidarity and development of Africa that Zimbabwe has made after President Mugabe assumed the chairmanship of the African Union.

China has become the country's biggest trade partner, with trade between the two countries peaking at nearly $1,2 billion between January and November last year compared to $1,1 billion for the whole of 2013.

Last week, President Mugabe hailed the cordial relations between the two countries which date back to the armed struggle that brought about Zimbabwe's Independence when China provided training and weapons for freedom fighters.