Interview: Zimbabwe, China enjoy fruitful cooperation in all spheres -- Zimbabwean president

HARARE, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe and China enjoy a time-honored friendship and are now carrying out fruitful cooperation in the political, economic and social sectors, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

Mnangagwa is currently in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and a state visit. The visit marks his second state visit to China.

Speaking to Xinhua in an interview ahead of his China visit, Mnangagwa said the cordial and long-standing relations between Zimbabwe and China date back to Zimbabwe's liberation struggle. "That's when we began political relations which have continued to deepen and concretized through now," he said.

The two countries established diplomatic relations on April 18, 1980, the Independence Day of Zimbabwe. In 2018, the two sides established a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.

In recent years, China has remained one of Zimbabwe's largest sources of foreign investment and a major trading partner. In 2023, bilateral trade between China and Zimbabwe reached 3.122 billion U.S. dollars, a 29.9 percent increase year-on-year, according to China Customs statistics.

The southern African country has witnessed the completion of many major projects with the support of concessional loans from the Chinese government, including the expansion of the Kariba South Power Station and the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, which have played important roles in dealing with the country's power shortages and improving transportation infrastructures.

Describing the FOCAC as a global forum, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe will seek to further boost cooperation with China during the summit so as to achieve more win-win results.