Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao has arrived in Zambia for a three-day visit where he is expected to sign loan and grant agreements to aid Zambia’s development.
Accompanied by 21 businessmen and Communist Party officials, Mr Li is due to sign eight agreements including the financing of hospital and mobile medical clinics, road construction, and electricity generation projects.
Mr. Li, the most senior Chinese leader to visit Zambia since President Michael Sata came to office in 2011, will be in the country at the invitation of the Zambian vice-president Guy Scott.
The Chinese Vice-President will hold private talks with President Sata, and also meet first president Kenneth Kaunda, PF Secretary General Wynter Kabimba as well as take part in the photographic exhibition on the results of cooperation between Zambia and China in the last 50 years.
China’s ambassador to Zambia, Zhou Yuxiao said the trip is aimed at further boosting “government-to-government and party-to-party relations between our two countries.” “The purpose of the visit is to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Zambian independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Zambia and to further promote government-to-government and party-to-party relations between our two countries,” Mr Zhou said.
According to the Chinese ambassador, other projects to be considered by Mr. Li were grants to be given to Zambia, borehole drilling, Levy Mwanawasa hospital expansion, Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and the cooperation in wild animal and forest cooperation.
Ambassador Zhou who said China wanted to assist Zambia with its road network, health sector and energy sector, said China was also contemplating assisting Zambia with more mobile hospitals.
China’s investment in Zambia rose to US$3.8 billion last year, from the US$3.4 billion in 2012.
When we think of food production, ecosystem, health and human wellbeing, one crucial element is often not mentioned: nutrition. Nutrition is everyone’s business and no one’s responsibility, as the saying goes. But we know that one of the world’s greatest challenges is to secure adequate food that is healthy, safe and of high quality for all, and to do so in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Although Zambia has over the past years achieved food security with regard to staple cereal, achieving food and nutrition security as recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization and other international agencies still remains a challenge to the government.
The reality is that malnutrition is one of the greatest challenges facing Zambia today. Currently, nearly one in every two children in Zambia is stunted or small for their age. In fact, Zambia has one of the highest rates of stunting in children under five years old in the world. At 45.8%, higher than the 42% average rate for Africa, Zambia’s rate of child stunting remains higher than the vast majority of it’s neighbouring countries.
The high levels of Malnutrition in Zambia create an urgent call to ensure that investment in agriculture becomes a core part of the solution and a preventive strategy by ensuring food is affordable and diverse. To do this we need to Reform existing Agriculture plans to increase their impact on Nutrition by encouraging diversity in food production that is aimed at improving the nutritional outcome of the population through maximizing the positive impact of food and agricultural systems on nutrition.
Why president sata did not go to welcome the Chinese Vip at KK airport?the article says gov’t to gov’t & party to party cooperation,I don’t support the communists ideology at all and this is a danger to Zambia ‘s political dispensation.China ‘s party their is no citizen elective of its politicians.human rights abuses are the order of the day,the pf party has shown some signs of communists mentality as exhibited by the arrogance of sata ,guy Scott and winter kabimba.The Chinese VIP did not come to assist Zambia but to burden us through loans,they are looking for market for Chinese goods to dump in Zambia.the Chinese president is in England,signed a deal in which Bp will supply oil to china,in return the Chinese will help Uk in loan ,the UK will boost its products in china.good deal
@ chikubabe
govts do not operate in disarray like your ramshackle and decaying UPND, there are protocols to follow, thats why the President was not at the airport
The chinese are a global power and you can only ignore them at your own peril.
@chikubabeniso Gen is right. You can only ignore China at your own peril. Even USA knows that. Another issue people are saying is that no credit leader has visited Zambia since PF took over. Can someone tell me which great leader visited Zambia during RB, Levy or Chiluba? If am not mistaken we had the UN Secretary General visiting Zambia during the PF. Besides it is not the visit by these leaders that will make Zambia rich. It is ourselves working hard.
Muleishiba Protocol. That is a Vice President and invited by Vice President.
China is a a great force to reckon with and Zambia’ s vice president is not on par with the Chinese Vice President. We get loans from China not the other way round.So Sata should have been there at the airport.For the forgetful Zambians,when RB was president he visited China and held bilateral talks that are bearing fruit today. Your Sata just swears in people a few meters from his bedroom and you want to defend that? check the link if you think I’m lying.
http://www.lusakatimes.com/2010/02/25/rb-arrives-in-china-for-state-visit/
I spoke to one chinese friend of mine and he said that China is using Zambia.
This is a one way relationship against a toothless country that is being exploited and will most probably even give up their freedom for expendable goods.
Shame.
Thanks
Brilliant observation Mushota!!!!
Your brain is functioning again!!!! Please don’t stop taking your meds ok mwaiche?
BAWISHI MULOMFWE CISUNGU. THE VICE PRESIDENT OF CHINA AND NOT THE PRESIDENT OF CHINA. BESIDES- “INVITE BY THE ZAMBIAN VICE PRESIDENT” READ THE STORY TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES FIRST BEFORE YOU START LOOKING FOR FAULTS.
Protocol does not allow the whole lot of Sata to welcome the vice president of any country. It has always been president to president or veep to veep.Be objective and research before you comment.
Strong ties my foot, it is a pity that we are still continuing as a nation to play in the hands of foreign countries, at the expense of development. We have been ripped off so many times and even the Chinese are now ripping us off. It is a wishful thought to even think there is any country that can develop another country. As Zambians we just need to explore other important ventures to develop the country. Not this nonsense of depending on vultures loans!
Still no presidential visits? Only a veep and a rogue president from Zim can visit Zambia in the rogue age of PF.
ZAMBIANS FEEL SO INFERIOR WITH THEIR BLACK SKIN. THEY THINK A COUNTRY CAN DEVELOP WHEN A WHITE PRESIDENT OR PRIME MINISTER VISITS THEIR COUNTRY. MIND YOU IF YOU READ CURRENT AFFAIRS, MUGABE IS ONE OF THE HEROES IN AFRICA. PEOPLE HAVE JUST REALISED WHAT HE WAS DOING- EMPOERING HIS OWN PEOPLE WITH LAND OWNERSHIP. ZIMBABWE IS NOW SERIOUSLY ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY.
This is the Peter who used to say “Zambia will benefit alot from Guy Scott because he was a muzungu. Why do educated and people exposed to the world bury their heads in the sand???? I can only assume it is tribalism.
@gen,first of all am an independent ,meaning am a swing voter,not upnd only.second if sata can break the record of a sitting president appearing in court,why can’t he go and welcome the VIP of a global business power as u claim it.Thirdly Chinese communist party is not a model in terms of Democracy.lastly the Chinese are looking for market because most USA companies are slowly pulling out of china and opening their manufacturing companies back in order to create employment.This has affected the GDP focused of Chinese this year.
Should read China..not Chinese.
the observer ….. you are wrong, zambian contractors have even failed to do good township roads or schools but chinese workman ship has standards, let them do you some roads and hospitals loans are loans and they should be paid. we can’t develop on our own we are too selfish.
Zambians please Zambian VP invited Chinese VP and not President SATA.
…..or president Mmembe LOL!
@TENY
UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH IS A REAL PROBLEM AMONGST ZAMBIANS, THOUGH THEY THINK OR WANT TO SPEAK IT BETTER THAN THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND. ELO THEY ARE FULL OF INFERIORITY COMPLEX. THEY THINK BEING VISITED BY A WESTERN LEADER WILL SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS RATHER THAN THEMSELVES WORKING HARD TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS. WHAT A SHAME!
Observer is right we are they only people who can develop our country,look at what this man is bringing you nkongole , even if the chinese build better roads who will maintain those roads, we ‘ll have to do that, china doesn’t have our best interest in mind, we don’t want to be dependent on anyone
@me,china is not a global power,its economy does not match USA,military china has 1 warship while USA got 11,but I do acknowledge statistically that by 2025 China ‘s economy will outweigh USA economy.As for high level visitors,developing any economy in this global village is a out marketing your country produce,yes as Zambians should develop our own economy by putting in power marketing managers (politicians)who should market our products overseas as we are producing them.Zambians are poor to afford most essential commodities hence the need to have presidential visits.
Can’t believe your idiocy!
@PHIRI, I AGREE WITH YOU OUR FRIEND IS A DEEP IDI0T.
Cooperation of two political party’s may result in organizing joint celebration, 50 years of Zambian independence and 25 years of Tienanmen Square Masacre
Loans are good when invested in productive ventures and in Education.I must say that only Zambians are going to develop Zambia.We must invest heavily in science Education and empower youths with interprenuaship skills into processing our agricultural products and minerals in either semi processed of fully processed products.The machines can be loaned or procured from China,but we should encourage our people to study them and start re manufacturing them.The key to Zambia’s success lies in a young well skilled and educated,but hard working young population.The population council should carry a study on quality of our pop and make recommendations to Government.It seems currently we are borrowing for consuption or for wrong reasons.UPND and HH have bright ideas on how this can be done.
YES LOANS ARE GOOD WHEN PROPERLY INVESTED IN DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS JUST LIKE PF GOVT IS INVESTING HEAVILY IN ROADS, SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, HOSPITALS, CONSTRUCTION, ETC. YOU ARE SPOT ON MATE.
@chikubabeniso. You definitely are high on something very potent and addictive causing you hallucinations. Stop your idiocy lts too early in the morning.
@joel & BA phiri not sure which comments u are referring to.do your research and not only reading what is said in media or cheap Chinese products u see in your shops.
I would rather they researched on your confused reasoning to find out the cause.
What is the matter, a VIP welcoming a VIP? nothing is wrong.
ONE WOULD THINK ZAMBIANS LIVING IN THE US MAY THINK BETTER BUT THEY ARE SERIOUSLY THE BIGGEST DUNDERHEADS. THE CHAP THINKS ACCUMULATING WARSHIPS IS GOOD ENOUGH. US FACING CHINA WITHOUT US SEEKING HELP FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AS IS NORMALLY THE CASE US IS NOTHING WITH IT’S MILLION WARSHIPS. US ONLY WINS WAR WHEN HELPED BY OTHER EAUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND UK, AND USING OTHER COUNTRIES NEAR THEIR ENEMY AS LAUNCH PADS. OTHERWISE JUST FIGHTING FROM US AND CHINA FIGHTING FROM CHINA, US IS PULP. BY THE WAY FOR YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING US ADVOCATE, US OWES CHINA BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. OR SHOULD I SAY THE WHOLE WORLD NOW WOES CHINA MAYBE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
Party-to-party?
So if this Veep hands over, say a few motor vehicles, shall we then arrest and try the PF president for theft of motor vehicles, or theft by public servant?
Chiwamila galu kuluma mbuzi.
#OneZambia
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