Chinese corporations hold symposium to enhance China-Zambia cooperation

LUSAKA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Chinese Corporations in Zambia (ACCZ) on Friday held its first-ever national symposium aimed at harnessing new development opportunities in the cooperation between the two countries.

Held under the theme "Harnessing the momentum to create new development opportunities in the Zambia-China cooperation", the symposium brought together both Chinese state-owned and private enterprises as well as Zambian companies to foster a shared understanding of emerging opportunities.

Rodney Sikumba, Zambia's acting Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry said, the symposium, which was aimed at scaling up trade and investment as well as facilitate the existing and new business ventures, demonstrates commitments of the two countries to cement the cordial and warm bilateral ties that have existed between China and Zambia for the past 60 years.

"Additionally, this symposium establishes a foundation for strategic business and economic interaction that will deepen and fortify our relationship by fostering increased investment and commerce between our two countries," he said.

He expressed gratitude that the trade and investment between the two countries has continued to grow, adding that Zambia has continued to receive increased levels of investments from China in major sectors.

While acknowledging China's decision to grant favorable market access to about 98 percent of Zambia's product lines, the minister said Zambia has continued to negotiate for more access for other products and expressed confidence that increased market access will further increase the bilateral trade volumes in non-traditional exports.

Zambia, he said, stands to benefit from China, a global leader in the production and its use of advanced technology in agriculture, energy production and manufacturing.

The minister invited Chinese investors to get involved in Zambia's priority sectors, adding that the government was ready to facilitate and ease all investor-related challenges.

According to him, Zambia was endowed with enormous reserves of critical minerals and urged Chinese enterprises to take advantage of the conducive business environment and invest in the country.

Albert Halwampa, the director-general of the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), said the holding of the symposium was an indication of the increased investors' confidence in the country propelled by good leadership and stable economic policies.

He said the country has seen increased investment inflows from investors outside the country, including China, who have seen the investment opportunities in the country.

He said the agency has since worked on leveraging the challenges investors were facing such as shortening the period for getting an investment license from 30 days to three hours after submissions of relevant documents.

Cui Hailiang, who spokes on behalf of the association chairperson, said Chinese enterprises were willing to support Zambia's industrialization and social development and leverage the expertise to contribute to the country's development.

He said the symposium was meant to create an opportunity for close interaction among entrepreneurs, government agencies as well as promote information sharing, deep exchanges and mutual trust.