Trade between Zimbabwe and its eastern ally China surged to $280-million last year and will be greater still this year, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Total trade volume for bilateral trade for the first eight months of 2006 reached $210-million according to a report carried by the Herald.
President Robert Mugabe has urged Zimbabwean businessmen to look to China and Malaysia for trade opportunities instead of relying on traditional Western markets that are shunning Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean authorities have gone to great lengths to encourage Sino-Zimbabwe trade, setting up Harare-Beijing flights on the ailing national carrier and urging tourism professionals to learn Chinese.
There are now more than 35 Chinese companies operating in Zimbabwe, according to the Herald. Chinese companies have shown an interest in helping Zimbabwe resurrect its troubled power sector, reportedly in return for mining rights.
Earlier this year, Beijing and Harare were reported to have signed preferential loan agreements totalling 200-million yuan: foreign currency that is desperately needed by the struggling Southern African nation.
But the increased presence of Chinese businessmen in Zimbabwe’s towns and cities has stirred controversy. There are complaints the newcomers are flooding the local market with flimsy substandard clothes, shoes and tableware that quickly falls to pieces.
The weekly Standard newspaper claimed on Sunday that the ruling party politburo’s (Zanu-PF) top decision-making body had recently blasted the cheap products, known locally as zhing-zhongs.
Concern was raised over the substandard goods that have been coming from China, an unnamed Zanu-PF politburo member was quoted as saying. — Sapa-dpa