PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has thanked the people of China and its president, Hu Jintao for the sacrifices they have made in fostering development in Zambia which he says is to the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.
President Banda said Zambia was now able to boast some massive developments because of Chinese assistance both in terms of human and financial support.He was speaking at State House yesterday when a Chinese delegation led by Jiangxi provincial government vice-governor, Hong Lihe paid a courtesy call on him.
“It is always a great pleasure to receive a delegation from outside, especially from China, an old friend of Zambia.
“Relations between Zambia and China originate from periods long before our forefathers fought for independence.“When we got our independence, the first major project to free ourselves from apartheid South Africa was with China to build a rail line between Tanzania and Zambia,” Mr Banda said.
He said China helped Zambia and other countries on the continent to fight colonialism.The president said in recent history, Zambia and China cooperation had grown much and that Zambia appreciated what the two countries were able to achieve together.
And Mr Hong said Zambia’s economy was growing fast as demonstrated by the 6.3 per cent gross domestic product recorded after the implementation of the Fifth National Development Plan.
He said it was also impressive that Zambia had recorded a significant drop in inflation.“We are also impressed that Zambia is politically stable and the economy is growing fast,” Mr Hong said.
He said China was particularly impressed that President Banda had focused on the education sector. |
Discussion
No comments yet.