Feature: China assists in Mozambique's infrastructure reconstruction

Anley still remembers the time around the year 2000, when his motherland was plagued with seriously damaged infrastructures all around.

After a deadly 16-year civil war which spared over a million lives, Mozambique's economy suffered serious setbacks when in 2000 and 2001 the country was hit by floods which affected about a quarter of the population and destroyed much of its infrastructure.

After that, Mozambique embarked on its reconstruction process. During the process, the Chinese government has provided assistance to Mozambique through a series of aid and loan projects.

Six years ago, Anley won a job in a Chinese company, and what makes him proud is that thus he has been indirectly involved in a few infrastructure projects undertaken by the company, which all contribute to the economic and social development of the country.

The Zimpeto National Stadium is one among them, regarded as one of China's biggest aid projects across Africa, built by Anhui Foreign Economic Construction (Group) Co., Ltd..

According to the information provided by the Economic and Commercial Counselor Office of the Chinese Embassy in Mozambique, the stadium, completed in November, 2010, has a capacity of 42,000 spectators.

It is mainly used for football events and was the main stadium for the 2011 All-Africa Games and 2017 Lusophony Games.

Fernando Sumbana Junior, Mozambique's former minister of Youth and Sport, told Xinhua that China's fund for construction of the National Stadium is the first major investment in sport sector after the country's independence in 1975.

"The stadium has been contributing to the development of sport in Mozambique, for raising self-esteem of Mozambicans and putting the country on a prominent place at regional level in terms of sports infrastructure of international standard," he added.

Besides, China has continued a large part of its help in transportation infrastructure construction in Mozambique.

To Silva Tivane, a resident living in Zimpeto, an outlying neighborhood of Maputo, the Maputo ring road which is almost opened to traffic has imposed the biggest impact upon his life.

"The Maputo ring road is a positive project, it has huge lines and facilitates access to different points of the city, and the traffic flows much efficiently," said Tivane.

"I live in Zimpeto and the neighborhood is totally different now, more like a town because of the project," he added.

The ring road project, under the loans provided by the Export-Import Bank of China (China EximBank), is built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), along with the Maputo-Catembe Bridge project.

As the northernmost area of the ring road project, the infrastructure of the Marracuene District of Maputo Province progressed to improvement with newly built roads and a new Marracuene bridge across the Incomati River, which runs through the district on its course into the Indian Ocean.

"The improvement of transportation has largely energized the surrounding area, and we begin to get rid of poverty and backwardness," said Maria Vicente, the administrator of the district.

In fact, China's assistance in Mozambique's transportation infrastructure has already extended to land, sea and air transport system.

The Maputo International Airport Terminals, completed in 2012, is under loans of China EximBank and considered as the most important aviation hub in Mozambique.

The Maputo-Catembe Bridge, starting its construction in 2014, would become one of the largest suspension bridges in Africa, which will stretch to 3 kilometers in length with a main span of 680 meters.

The completion of the bridge will provide much needed additional area for the further growth of Maputo, as well as a connection between the two shores of the bay area, leading to a substantial increase in economic, business and tourism development of the southern part of the bay.

The new Beira Port project, built by the China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd. starting from September, 2015, is viewed as the country's key project to revitalize the fisheries industry.

Once completed, Mozambique's second largest city Beira would have its own industry chain of fisheries, from fishing, refrigeration to deeply processed products export. Endit