On August 30, a ceremony of exchange of letters was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on a number of joint projects including the Chinese government’s provision of emergency humanitarian food aid to Zambia and assistance in the construction of mealie meal milling plants and the new building of the Zambian Foreign Ministry. Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy, Wang Sheng and Permanent Secretary of the Zambian Foreign Ministry, Hope Situmbeko attended the ceremony.
Mr. Wang said that the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held recently in Beijing. This marks another grand reunion of the China-Africa big family. President Xi Jinping will once again meet with President Hakainde Hichilema to draw a blueprint for the future of China-Zambia relations. China will provide emergency humanitarian food aid to Zambia worth 20 million RMB and conduct the feasibility study of milling plant projects. These are important achievements made by the two governments before the Summit, as well as concrete actions to implement the consensus of the two heads of state and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi. China will work with the Zambian side to take the Summit as an opportunity to promote the revitalization of TAZARA and cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, mining, energy and water conservancy to bring tangible benefits to the two peoples.
Ms. Situmbeko said that over the past 60 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations, China has provided long-term assistance to Zambia’s economic and social development, and the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have continued to consolidate and deepen. China’s assistance to Zambia in the fight against drought once again demonstrates the people-oriented nature of the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, for which Zambia is deeply grateful. Zambia will carry forward the all-weather friendship and looks forward to more practical outcomes during the Summit to help with Zambia’s economic transformation.
The ceremony was covered by Xinhua News Agency, China Media Group, ZANIS, ZNBC, Daily Mail and other medias.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Zambia.