Chinese have created thousands of jobs for Namibians – ambassador

The Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Zhao Weiping, said there are now 56 Chinese companies operating in Namibia and a total of around 1 700 Chinese nationals.

The majority of these Chinese nationals are owners of small businesses of various kinds, who have created more than 10 000 jobs for the local Namibian people, he said.

“The Chinese-owned Husab and Rössing Uranium mines have contributed to about 7% of Namibia’s gross domestic product and Husab Uranium alone paid N$1,53 billion in tax to the Namibian government in 2021.

“These are some of the critical indicators of the strength of China-Namibia economic cooperation. I wish to emphasise here that China welcomes more Namibian products to enter its market,” Zhao said while speaking on Wednesday night during a China-Namibia business networking reception in Windhoek.

He added that economic cooperation is critical for the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Zhao said they are discussing with the Namibian side some of the new development assistance projects.

“Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has, to its own ability, provided some development assistance to Namibia, which is a mutual help and support between friends. The projects that are currently in place, include the 2B section of Windhoek’s new airport road which is being constructed with a Chinese government grant of N$1 billion, the expansion and upgrading of four schools in the Kavango West and Zambezi regions and the Satellite Data Receiving Ground Station, both projects being constructed with the support of a Chinese government grant of more than N$200 million.

“It’s very important to bear in mind that the China-Namibia economic cooperation is in essence South-South cooperation,” he said.

The ambassador introduced the new counsellor for economic and commercial affairs of the embassy, Wei Jinming.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade executive director Sikongo Haihambo said total trade between Namibia and China stood at N$22,1 billion last year.

This is an increase of 28,1% compared to the previous year.

Haihambo said as of 2022, Namibia has exported electrical and electronic equipment, iron and steel, nuclear material (uranium), meat and meat products to China.

“Although these exported products are still low, we expect the export numbers to grow.

Chinese investments have played a pivotal role in various sectors of our economy, contributing to infrastructural development, technology transfer and employment opportunities for our people,” he said.

“We also believe that Chinese investment must look at avenues to grow the domestic industries by investing in further infrastructure to add value to exported raw materials. We have also seen a rise in Chinese mining enterprises, particularly in the areas of granite and dimension stone, lithium, copper and other rare earth metals. We challenge China to set up vocational institutes or centres with your expertise focused on the value addition of these minerals,” he said.

Haihambo added that the two countries’ partnership has been built upon shared values of cooperation, friendship and the pursuit of shared prosperity.

“To further strengthen the Namibia-China trade relationship, Namibia plans to participate in the upcoming China International Import Expo scheduled for November in Shanghai, China.

“The Namibia-China trade relationship stands as a beacon of successful collaboration, one that demonstrates the positive impact of the partnership on economic growth.”