China, Zimbabwe bilateral trade surges in 2012

China and Zimbabwe bilateral trade surged 20 percent to 533 million U.S. dollars in the first five months of 2012, compared to the same period last year, an official said on Thursday. Speaking during a reception here to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Lin Lin said trade between the two countries was expected to hit 1 billion dollars by the end of this year. "The year 2012 witnessed a rapid development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation between China and Zimbabwe. The bilateral trade volume was US$533 million in the first five months of 2012, an increase of 20 percent from the same period last year and is expected to reach 1 billion dollars by the end of 2012," he said. China has emerged as Zimbabwe's all weather friend in the last decade when Zimbabwe has been under European Union and United States sanctions. Relations between the two countries further deepened after Zimbabwe adopted the Look East Policy in 2003. China has become a major source of imports as the Zimbabwean economy recovers from years of contraction, with the country exporting mainly tobacco to the Asian giant. "More and more Chinese companies are involved in Zimbabwe's economic development," Lin added. Among the companies operating in the country include Anjin, a joint diamond mining venture between the Chinese and the Zimbabwe government as well as Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company (AFECC) which has been involved in two major construction projects in the country. AFECC constructed the multi-million dollar Zimbabwe Defense College launched two weeks ago and is currently constructing a hotel and shopping mall worth over 200 million dollars in Harare. Lin said the two countries were also cooperating in other sectors such as education and culture. "China and Zimbabwe enjoy a profound traditional friendship," said Lin, who came to Zimbabwe two months ago, adding that there were prospects to further solidify relations. Meanwhile, Lin said in the past 63 years since its founding, China has registered unprecedented transformation to become the second most powerful nation in the world. "Despite all the achievements, we are clear headed that China is still a developing country with a large population yet a weak economic base," he said.He said the world most populous nation continued to make strides to balance development between its urban and rural areas as well as uplift the lives of the over 128 million still living under the poverty line.