1st LD: Chinese president arrives for state visit to Zimbabwe

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Tuesday for a state visit to Zimbabwe aimed at further cementing the traditional friendship between the two countries and charting the course for the future development of bilateral ties.

The trip, which comes upon the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-Zimbabwe diplomatic relations, is Xi's first to the African country and also the first state visit by a Chinese president to Zimbabwe since 1996.

During his stay in Harare, Xi will hold talks with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who is revered as an old friend of the Chinese people, and the two sides are expected to ink a series of cooperation deals covering such fields as infrastructure construction, investment, financing, culture and wildlife protection.

In an article published by leading Zimbabwean newspapers prior to his arrival, Xi said he looks forward to having in-depth exchanges of views with Mugabe and friends from all sectors of the African country with the purpose of enhancing the friendship between the two nations, seeking new opportunities for bilateral cooperation in all areas, and delivering more benefits to the two peoples.

"I am convinced that with the dedicated cultivation of the Chinese and Zimbabwean peoples, the flower of China-Zimbabwe friendship will bloom with even brighter splendor," Xi said in the piece, which was entitled "Let the Flower of China-Zimbabwe Friendship Bloom with New Splendor."

Calling China Zimbabwe's "best friend" on the international stage and describing Xi's visit as a significant event in the development of bilateral ties, Mugabe told Xinhua in a recent interview that he will confer with Xi on bilateral cooperation in multiple areas.

Harare, he said, hopes that China will help Zimbabwe carry out some key economic and public-welfare projects so as to speed up the country's socio-economic development.

China and Zimbabwe boast a time-honored brotherly relationship that dates back to the former's provision of substantial assistance for the latter's struggle for national liberation and independence.

Since the two countries established diplomatic relations on the very day of Zimbabwe's independence, bilateral ties have witnessed steady and fruitful development. China has become a major trading partner of Zimbabwe and its largest source of foreign investment. Two-way trade reached 1.24 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, marking a year-on-year increase of 12.7 percent.

During Mugabe's state visit to China in August 2014, the two countries agreed to be good friends, good partners and good brothers that treat each other as equals, support each other and pursue win-win cooperation and common development.

In April this year, the two leaders held a meeting in Jakarta on the sidelines of an Asian and African leaders' summit, and pledged to make concerted efforts to lift bilateral relations to higher levels.

Xi flew to Harare from Paris, where he delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of a highly anticipated UN climate change conference. His ongoing three-nation trip will also take him to South Africa for a state visit and a summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Endi