Zimbabwean president visited China strengthen cooperation

World Today

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is on a five-day official visit to China. On Tuesday, the African leader held separate talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang. CCTV America’s Wu Guoxiu reports.

Robert Mugabe looked to boost relations with China in his meeting with Premier Li Keqiang. Li said China and Zimbabwe would cooperate more on agriculture, poverty relief and infrastructure building.

He added that China supports the African Union’s proposal to build more high speed railways connecting the capitals of African countries, and would like to help Africa industrialize.

Meanwhile, Mugabe, who is traveling with a team of cabinet ministers, said that Zimbabwe will strengthen its coordination with China in international and regional affairs.

Also on Tuesday, top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang held talks with Mugabe. He said that China’s National People’s Congress will cooperate more with the Zimbabwean parliament in exchanging experiences, such as how to attract investment and building special economic zones.

The meetings come after Mugabe was also received by President Xi Jinping at a ceremony on Monday. The two presidents pledged to expand overall cooperation between the two countries.

President Mugabe’s visit has so far been fruitful. China and Zimbabwe have signed a series of new agreements on economic, trade and tourism cooperation, as well as emergency food donations and concessional loans from China.