First Ever China-Zambia Trade Forum Concludes

Today, Thursday 29 October, the first ever China-Zambia Trade and Investment Forum was concluded. The two day event took place at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.

The theme of the event was “China-Zambia Trade and Investment Forum in the New Era: All Weather, All Dimensional and High-Quality Friendship”. In a Facebook post, President Hichilema praised the event as an opportunity to foster an “ever deepening relation” with the People’s Republic of China.

Describing China as a “key and major trade partner”, Zambia exported $1.2bn USD in 2021, whilst importing $896m USD, leaving a positive trade balance in favour of Zambia. Remarkably, Chinese companies are believed to have invested over $9.4bn USD across Zambian sectors like mining, manufacturing, construction and engineering. 

Following the stabilisation of the Zambian economy, manifested in a halved inflation rate and the remarkable performance of the Rwandan Kwacha, President Hichilema is seeking further foreign investment in the country.

The Government seeks to make Zambia a middle-income country. Recently, its economy received a significant boost as FQM committed to a $1.35bn investment in the mining industry. Additionally, the nation’s S&P Credit Rating was upgraded in February, signalling to foreign investors that economy security is developing.

Following the first day of the event Hichilema posted on Facebook; “We also aspire to have an economy that runs on a 24 hours basis. We threw this challenge to our Minister of Home Affairs to make this possible as we also challenged ZDA to ensure that by 2031, China Zambia trade is around $30 billion.”

“We also acknowledged the establishment of the Zambia - China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, the first Chinese overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Africa, as well as the first multi - facility economic zone in Zambia. This is an attestation to the strong, all weather, all dimensional, high quality Zambia - China investment ties.

We expressed our profound congratulations to the President of the People's Republic of China and his people for The People's Republic of China "National Day".”

“We also conveyed our sincere gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Du Xiaohui, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Zambia, for exuding exuberance and new energy in Zambia's relation with the People's Republic of China since he came to Zambia this year.” 

On twitter after the event, Hichilema indicated that he was keen to see Zambia produce its own medicines in order to improve the efficiency of its hospitals.