On the afternoon of May 31, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with Zambian President Hitchlema.
Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Zambia are traditional friendly "all-weather friends", and the friendship between China and Zambia is unbreakable. In the past year, China-Zambia relations have maintained a positive momentum of development. The bilateral trade volume has reached a record high, and Zambia has become the African country that attracts the most direct investment from China. The cooperation between the two countries has huge potential and bright prospects. China attaches great importance to China-Zambia relations, and is willing to work with Zambia to consolidate and deepen China-Zambia friendship and push bilateral relations to a higher level and in a wider range of fields.
Xi Jinping emphasized that the two sides should adhere to grasping bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, strengthen inter-party exchanges, and share experience in state governance and administration. It is necessary to strengthen strategic communication and policy alignment, fully implement the "Nine Projects" of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, promote more Zambian commodities, especially high-quality agricultural products, to enter the Chinese market, and strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation. It is necessary to inherit the spirit of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, give it a new era connotation, and make the Tanzania-Zambia Railway an important transportation channel in the region.
Xi Jinping stressed that it is China's long-term and firm strategic choice to develop solidarity and cooperation with African countries such as Zambia as a developing country. The two sides should adhere to an independent foreign policy, firmly uphold international fairness and justice, and firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law. The Chinese side is willing to work with the African side to promote high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", deepen cooperation in areas such as health care, poverty reduction and agriculture, trade and investment, green development, and digital economy, so as to help Africa achieve economic recovery and sustainable development, and promote the construction of A China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
Hitchilema said that under the excellent leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese people have achieved prosperity and development, and the Zambian side deeply admires China's achievements. Thank you for China's long-term important assistance to Zambia's national construction and development, as well as vaccines and other assistance for Zambia's fight against the epidemic. The Zambian side is willing to strengthen exchanges and reference with the Communist Party of China, consolidate and deepen the traditional friendship established by the older generations of leaders of Zambia and China, and in the spirit of high mutual trust and cooperation, promote greater development of Zambia-China relations and benefit the two peoples. The Zambian side firmly adheres to the one-China policy, supports the "Belt and Road" initiative, the global development initiative and the global security initiative proposed by the Chinese side. I wish the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China a complete success.