2024, fruitful year of China-Zambia ties

LUSAKA, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The year 2024 has been fruitful for the China-Zambia cooperation as the two countries celebrated 60 years of diplomatic ties.

Spurred by the elevation of the cooperation to a Comprehensive Strategic and Cooperative Partnership following a state visit to China by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema in September 2023, the two countries designated 2024 as the Year of Business Cooperation, as well as the Year of Culture and Tourism.

Han Jing, the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, said during a ceremony to commemorate 60 years of ties on Oct. 29 that the commemoration of the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations could not have taken place at a better time and was aiming to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries from generation to generation.

For his part, President Hichilema said the relationship between the two countries has reached its best in history and Zambia will never forget the valuable support from the Chinese government and people over the past 60 years.

Indeed, 2024 has been a momentous year in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

To celebrate the anniversary, a number of activities have been held and several cooperation agreements inked to enhance the ties.

Among the events was the Zambia-China High-Quality Development Forum and Economic Exhibition in May.

The exhibition attracted more than 200 enterprises from China and Zambia. During the event, dozens of documents on practical cooperation worth 1.03 billion U.S. dollars were signed between Chinese and Zambian enterprises.

Other activities included the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of the first-ever vaccine manufacturing plant in Zambia.

The two countries also launched the "Harmony in Diversity: Zambia-China Bilateral Relationship Art Exhibition" as part of the commemoration of 60 years of bilateral ties.

A hallmark of the year was the attendance of the Zambian president at this year's Forum on China Africa summit in China, during which Zambia signed a number of deals in various sectors.

One of the documents aims to assist Zambia in diversifying its energy mix by investing in alternative power generation projects, including solar energy. According to the Chinese Ambassador, these projects are expected to add an additional 720 megawatts of electricity to Zambia's grid once completed.

Another key agreement was to revitalize the Tanzania-Zambia Railway to turn it into a viable regional connectivity project.

China also donated about 500,000 dollars to help Zambia tackle an outbreak of cholera. Additionally, on Aug. 30, a ceremony was held to exchange letters regarding Emergency Humanitarian Food Assistance and China-Aid Projects.

This involved China's provision of emergency humanitarian food aid to Zambia and assistance in the construction of mealie meal milling plants.

The relationship between China and Zambia in the past 60 years has seen tremendous growth for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

As the Zambian president said in the commemoration ceremony, the two countries were celebrating 60 years of partnership with renewed vigor and more focus on what the partnership means to the two governments. ■