HH Establishes The Zambia - China Economic And Trade Cooperation Zone
Fellow citizens,
It was a distinct honour and privilege to have participated in the first ever China-Zambia Trade and Investment Forum at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, in Lusaka today. The theme, "China-Zambia Trade and Investment Forum In The New Era: All Weather, All Dimensional and High - Quality Friendship", is an appropriate concept that is in concert with our ever deepening relation with the People's Republic of China on many fronts.
The Forum is a direct outcome of a person to person telephone call, we had with His Excellency President Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China in June 2022, during which we agreed to maintain the momentum of strong China-Zambia relations, underpinned by a re-emergence in the Trade and Investment volumes between the Republic of Zambia and the People's Republic of China.
In our address to the Forum, we noted that the People's Republic of China remains a key and major trade partner; with Zambia's exports to the People's Republic of China in 2021, estimated at US$1.2 Billion, while imports over the same period estimated at US$896 Million, culminating in a positive trade balance of approximately US$847 Million, in favour of Zambia.
We also observed that the Chinese companies have an estimated investment of over US$ 9.4 Billion across our sectors like mining, manufacturing, construction and engineering and fresh agro processing, among others. This is a positive development that we must continue to stimulate and leverage.
At this point we called upon our fellow citizens to ensure that they also participated in forming partnerships with our colleagues who have the technology and financial capital. We as a government will create the opportunities, but we expect our citizens to exploit them.
We also aspire to have an economy that runs on a 24 hours basis. We threw this challenge to our Minister of Home Affairs to make this possible as we also challenged ZDA to ensure that by 2031, China Zambia trade is around $30 billion.
We also acknowledged the establishment of the Zambia - China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, the first Chinese overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Africa, as well as the first multi - facility economic zone in Zambia. This is an attestation to the strong, all weather, all dimensional, high quality Zambia - China investment ties.
We expressed our profound congratulations to the President of the People's Republic of China and his people for The People's Republic of China "National Day".
We also conveyed our sincere gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Du Xiaohui, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Zambia, for exuding exuberance and new energy in Zambia's relation with the People's Republic of China since he came to Zambia this year.
Hakainde Hichilema,
President of the Republic of Zambia.