China to build agro-tech center in Zimbabwe

China will assist Zimbabwe to build an agro-tech experimenting center this year (2007), a Chinese diplomat based in Harare has said.

Hu Ming, the economic and commercial counsellor of the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe, said preparations for the construction of the center were in full swing, as the two governments had signed an agreement on the project on April 21, when a high-ranking Chinese delegation headed by Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was on a four-day visit to Zimbabwe.

According to the agreement, the Chinese government will provide the necessary farming materials and send technical personnel who are experts on maize growing. The project will be completed in the coming three years.

This was the first major agreement signed between the two governments on cooperation in agricultural sector, Hu said. He said it will also boost the agricultural production of Zimbabwe.

During the Beijing Summit of China-Africa Cooperation Forum in November 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced that China would help African countries build 10 pilot agricultural technology centers in the next three years.

Xinhua