Building steel plants to boost local industrial development, produce agricultural products to escort local food security, and make affordable products for local people... At the 64th Zimbabwe International Trade Fair held at the end of April, Zimbabwe-made products launched by Chinese exhibitors became a beautiful scene at the fair.

Held in Bulawayo, the country's second largest city, the expo attracted exhibitors from more than 20 countries around the world. Into the exhibition area, a steel factory picture is eye-catching, and the picture is written in English: the largest steel factory in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is a local steel plant built by Dingsen Steel Company, a subsidiary of China's Qingshan Holding Group in Zimbabwe. In March this year, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited the steel plant and placed high hopes on it. The plant will be put into operation in June this year, with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons, in addition to meeting Zimbabwe's steel demand, the future will also be exported to other regions through the port of Beira, Mozambique.

In recent years, the Zimbabwean government has actively advocated agricultural self-sufficiency and provided opportunities for the development of agriculture-related industries. Liang Zhitao, chairman of Zimbabwe Feitang Agricultural Company, said that Zimbabwe is short of fertilizer, he runs a fertilizer plant in NORTON, dozens of kilometers from the capital Harare, and put into operation in April this year, with a daily production of about 300 tons of fertilizer, employing more than 20 local employees. Aubert Giri, Permanent secretary of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water Resources and Rural Development, said the fertilizer plant allows local farmers to buy safe fertilizer, and hopes to see the fertilizer that flies into agriculture promoted throughout Zimbabwe.

Also "settled" in NORTON, Sunshine Yifeng Ceramics Co., Ltd. invested in the local factory, not only to bring inexpensive products, but also to provide a large number of local jobs. The company's sales manager, Cheng Xiaobo, told Xinhua that the company has entered the Zimbabwean market since 2018, mainly producing ceramic tiles and other products, and currently employs more than 2,000 local employees.

Cheng Xiaobo said that before the company entered the Zimbabwean market, the ceramic tiles here were mostly imported and expensive. After the company put into operation, the price of ceramic tiles dropped significantly, and local people can also afford ceramic tiles for building houses. He said that the products produced by the company are mainly for the local market, and some are exported to countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

At the scene, the reporter really felt that enterprises and exhibitors from China not only invested in the local plant, expand business, but also studied carefully and committed to solving the practical problems of local people.

Chen Qiang, general manager of AE Electric Private Co., LTD., told reporters that after graduating from university, he came to Zimbabwe to do appliance trade, and found that local appliances were mostly imported and expensive European and American branded products, and decided to produce appliances affordable to the local people. His company, which began as a manufacturer of small appliances, has gradually expanded into products such as solar water heaters and energy-saving lamps.

Statistics show that China has been Zimbabwe's largest source of foreign investment for many years in a row. Dozens of Chinese enterprises have combined production and marketing in Zimbabwe, helping the country's industrial development and improving the lives of local people. Editor/Wang Tian