Financial Gazette (Harare)
Shame Makoshori
22 November 2008
Harare — TRADE volumes between Zimbabwe and China could surpass US$500 million this year from US$275 million in 2006 despite a worsening economic crisis in the country, a senior Chinese embassy official said recently.
Zimbabwe and China share strong economic ties built around the "Look East Policy" adopted by President Robert Mugabe's government after European and Western states withdrew their support in the late late 1990s.
China has become Zimbabwe's second largest trading partner after South Africa although the balance of trade remains in favour of the Asian economic giant.
Official statistics indicate that the country suffered a US$189 million trade deficit against China in the first half of last year.
During the period, Zimba-bwe exported US$16 million worth of goods to China against US$205 million worth of goods that China exported to the southern African country.
Until recently, tobacco was the country's biggest foreign currency earner but the trend changed due to a combination of the drought, lack of farming equipment and inputs and inexperienced indigenous farmers who were allocated land under the controversial land reforms in 2000.
From a peak of 250 million kg in 1998, output of the golden leaf has plunged to 45 million kg this season.
Hu Ming, the economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Harare told The Financial Gazette recently that tobacco was among the commodities his country was targeting. He said the value of Zimbabwean tobacco earmarked to enter the Chinese market this year would more than double to US$100 million from US$40 million last year.
"China is the biggest buyer of Zimbabwean tobacco," Ming said. "China wants to buy more tobacco from Zimbabwe this year because it is good quality tobacco. We used to import big volumes of tobacco from Brazil but Zimbabwean tobacco is of good quality and the people of China want more. China will import US$100 million this year," Ming said.
Early this month, China showed its serious intention to expand the market for its products in Zimbabwe by announcing it would run the Chinese Commodities-Zim-babwe 2008 Fair which eneded in Harare recently.
About 30 Chinese companies participated at the fair, the third of its kind in Africa after being held in Angola in 2004 and Mozambique in 2006.
Some of the world's biggest plant and machinery manufacturers, including telecommunications equipment giant, Huawei Technologies, exhibited at the fair.
Among the products showcased at the Fair include plant and machinery, power-generating equipment, hardware, tools, plastic, agricultural machines, building materials and consumer products.
"China has committed to helping Zimbabwe to help agricultural production in a bid to securing the food supply to Zimbabwean people against the sanctions by the Western countries," a statement released ahead of the exhibition said.
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