China offers Zambian products tariff-free access

LUSAKA – China has offered Zambia tariff-free market access for its products and will allow its citizens to borrow investment capital from the Bank of China, finance minister Ng’andu Magande said yesterday.

Magande also said Chinese firms had started feasibility studies on how $800 million in investments pledged by Beijing would be spent. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa announced the cash pledge on Saturday after talks with China’s Hu Jintao, who is on a three-day state visit.”It is exciting that China has opened up its market to 452 Zambian products from the previous 192 products, and the best thing is that Zambians can now borrow money from the Bank of China to manufacture goods required to export to that market,” Magande told Reuters in an interview.Relations between China and Zambia have been cordial for decades, and China has invested to help build a major railway line and develop copper mines in the southern African country, which has consistently supported a one-China policy.The Bank of China has a Zambian branch, which previously provided services only to Chinese investors.Magande said the $800 million pledged by China would roll into country of 11,5 million people over the next three years, starting this year.Nampa-ReutersZambian President Levy Mwanawasa announced the cash pledge on Saturday after talks with China’s Hu Jintao, who is on a three-day state visit.”It is exciting that China has opened up its market to 452 Zambian products from the previous 192 products, and the best thing is that Zambians can now borrow money from the Bank of China to manufacture goods required to export to that market,” Magande told Reuters in an interview.Relations between China and Zambia have been cordial for decades, and China has invested to help build a major railway line and develop copper mines in the southern African country, which has consistently supported a one-China policy.The Bank of China has a Zambian branch, which previously provided services only to Chinese investors.Magande said the $800 million pledged by China would roll into country of 11,5 million people over the next three years, starting this year.Nampa-Reuters