On 28th October, H.E. Mr. Li Jie, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, met with H.E. Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia. Hon. Stanley Kakubo, Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and other senior officials from the State House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation also attended the meeting.

Ambassador Li said that since China and Zambia established diplomatic ties 57 years ago, the two countries have always treated and respected each other as equals with sincerity and friendship, and always supported each other on issues concerning each others’ core interests and major concerns.The Chinese side will never forget that it was Zambia and other developing countries that helped the People’s Republic of China restore its lawful seat in the United Nations 50 years ago. This week, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of China, attended the conference marking the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations and delivered an important speech, expressing heartfelt gratitude to all countries,including Zambia, that co-sponsored and supported UN General Assembly Resolution 2758. President Xi also stressed that China is a strong supporter of other developing countries in their just struggle to safeguard sovereignty, security and development interests.

Ambassador Li said that right now, COVID-19 is still raging in the world, and China stands for efforts to make vaccines a global public good and ensure the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines globally, especially vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. At the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping announced that China will strive to provide a total of 2 billion doses of vaccines to the world by the end of this year. In addition to donating 100 million US dollars to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccines to other developing countries in the course of this year. In Zambia, China has promised to provide another 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines apart from the doses that we have donated to Zambia before. The Chinese vaccines have been widely recognized with a high level of safety and efficacy, and we believe that they will help Zambia defeat the epidemic and restore the economy at an early date.

Ambassador Li said that the China International Import Expo (CIIE) is the first state-level expo themed on import in the world, which demonstrates China’s determination to firmly expand all-round opening-up and the goodwill of sharing opportunities brought by its development with the rest of the world. President Hichilema will attend the 4th China International Import Expo online and deliver a speech. The gesture will help Zambia’s quality products enter China and go global. We hope that the Zambian side takes the CIIE as an opportunity and further increase export to China by making use of China’s preferential treatment of 97% of Zambian products exported to China exempted from tariffs.

Ambassador Li said that China hopes to work with Zambia to encourage more countries and organizations to participate in the Global Development Initiative and the Initiative on Partnership for Africa’s Development, so as to make positive contributions to African countries’ post-pandemic economic recovery and their stronger, green and sound development. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is an important platform for collective cooperation between China and Africa. With the support of the Zambian side, the forthcoming FOCAC is believed to build the strategic consensus between China and Africa, promote unity in the pandemic response and boost Africa's development and prosperity at a faster speed.

President Hichilema asked Ambassador Li to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping. He thanked  China for providing Zambia with vaccines and anti-pandemic materials, and said that the “New Dawn” Administration pursues economic diplomacy and is willing to develop friendly cooperative relations with all countries in the world. Zambia’s new government places a high premium on Zambia-China friendship and is firmly committed to keeping good relations with China. He said that Zambia stands ready to explore new ways for more cooperation with China, benefiting the two peoples.