China is irreplaceable to Zim, Parly told
CHINA has proven to be an irreplaceable partner to Zimbabwe amid difficult challenges, including the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic and poverty, Sadc parliamentarians heard yesterday.
Speaking at a virtual seminar for the National People’s of China (NPC) and the Parliaments of four African countries: Zimbabwe, Liberia, Namibia and South Africa, Gokwe-North legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena said Zimbabwe had ensured farm workers were among the first to be vaccinated, thanks to vaccines from China, as they play a key role in poverty alleviation.
“Among our highest national priorities as African countries are poverty alleviation and development, with a view of achieving the type of social and economic prosperity that is enjoyed in The People’s Republic of China, and so, we are grateful to the NPC for sharing their experience and knowledge with us,” Wadyajena, who is the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement, said.
“He (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) regards China as one of Zimbabwe’s most important and closest partners and often cites China’s noninterference policy and unparalleled progress as something to applaud and emulate.”
The meeting was attended by Chen Xiwen, chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the NPC among several other representatives and parliamentarians from Liberia, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe was among the first African governments to adopt the Look East policy over 20 years ago after relations with the West soured over Harare’s alleged human rights abuses and electoral theft by the ruling Zanu PF party.