Maravi

‘Chinese investors should respect Zambia’s laws’

‘Chinese investors should respect Zambia’s laws’
By George Zulu
Sun 28 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT

CHINESE investors should respect Zambia’s labour laws in order to foster unit, says Ambassador Li Qiangmin.

In an interview after officiating at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation at Lusaka’s Golden Bridge Hotel on Friday, Ambassador Li said there was need for Chinese investors to learn and respect laws to avoid misunderstandings.

“Our people need to learn the labour laws of your country to avoid situations like what happened at the Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe.

“They need to learn your culture. I was saddened about what happened.
“We have been working together with your government to address these misunderstandings because we are brothers,” he said.

In October, eleven Zambian miners were shot by two Chinese supervisors at the Sinazongwe mine while protesting against low wages and poor conditions. The supervisors have since been arrested and charged.

Li said China was interested in investing in poverty reduction projects to create employment for Zambians, adding that mutual understanding was cardinal to foster such developments.

“It is our interest that we reduce poverty by working together and appreciating each other. We want to increase investments in Zambia because it is a peaceful nation and you have resources,” he said.

And Ambassador Li said China had increased investments in Africa over US$144 billion.

Officiating at the forum, Ambassador Li said the annual Chinese direct investments in Africa had increased making the continent the fourth largest investment destination for China.

He said China had also increased aid in other economic related sectors such as infrastructure development, energy, agriculture, health and education.

“We witness fruitful achievements in the fields of education, culture, technology co-operation and China has trained over 30,000 technical personnel for Africa. These will become the builders for African development,” said Ambassador Li.

And foreign affairs minister Kabinga Pande said Chinese investments in Zambia had grown to over US$900 million in various sectors of the economy.

“Zambia-China trade has continued to grow rapidly since tariff exemption for 466 export commodities from Africa to China was endorsed by China. The financial cooperation has also continued to expand to US$900 million,” said Pande.

He said China had also shown interest to acquire other mines in Zambia and proposed a strategic cooperation agreement in mining and mineral development.

Labels: CHINESE, LABOUR, MINING

posted by MrK @ 4:16 PM