Thursday, June 06, 2013

Zimbabwe-China Relations, Co-operations to Get Boost

Zim-China relations, co-operations to get boost

Thursday, 06 June 2013 00:00
Tendai Manzvanzvike in BEIJING
Zimbabwe Herald

Relations and co-operation between Africa and China are set to get a boost as the Asian country is pushing towards diversifying its operations on the continent through the setting up of non- governmental organisations to benefit grassroots communities across the continent.

The NGOs would also strengthen the existing people to people relations.

In light of this, a joint delegation of NGO leaders, academics, researchers, experts from think tanks and the media from Africa and China are holding a week-long meeting in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The purpose of the meeting is to share experiences, ideas and map the way forward on how China can partner Africa in the setting up and boosting NGO activities on the continent.

The meeting, which started on June 3 and will end on June 9, was organised by the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament (CPAPD) and is being attended by 30 delegates from eight southern and eastern African countries.

Southern Africa is represented by Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Botswana, while East Africa has Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The Zimbabwean delegates were drawn from the Zimbabwe-China Friendship Association and Africa University.

Several Chinese speakers who included senior government officials, the NGO community and the academia spoke about the history, development, legislation and role of NGOs, and how they fit into the “Chinese dream” model as enunciated by President Xi Jinping.

During one of the thematic symposiums, the Zimbabwean delegation did a presentation on “Accelerating people-to-people friendly exchanges and pragmatic co-operation, and promoting a deep, comprehensive and sustainable China-Africa relationship” where they highlighted the present situation and potential challenges to the relations.

Chinese presenters made it clear that their entry into NGO work in Africa would not shift their policy of non-interference.

They maintained that their model would be Chinese, which would also be defined by its partners’ needs and were emphatic that they would not copy Western models.

The suggestions and recommendations from the meeting would be forwarded to relevant stakeholders in the Chinese government.

CPAPD was founded in June 1985 by various mass organisations and prominent personalities and it is the largest non-governmental peace association with a total of 24 influential member organisations in China.

Its objectives are to promote mutual understanding, friendship and co-operation between the Chinese and the rest of the world in joint efforts to maintain world peace, oppose arms race and war, achieve arms control and disarmament.

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