Relations between China and Zimbabwe have been elevated to a new level under Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership, Charge D’Affaires at the Chinese Embassy Zhao Baogang said here Friday.

Addressing journalists ahead of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that begins on Monday, Zhao said both countries had benefited from their relationship under the framework of FOCAC.

“President Mnangagwa has done a great job and under his leadership we can see the improvement of the Zimbabwean economy and we can see that the relations between the two countries have been elevated to a new level, and during his latest visit (to China) in April, we have elevated our relations from all-weather friendship to comprehensive strategic partnership,” Zhao said.

“This is a very, very important position that we have given to the relations between the two countries,” he said.

Mnangagwa is due to leave for China on Saturday and is expected to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after the FOCAC summit.

Zhao said FOCAC is an important mechanism between China and African countries and leaders will exchange views on how cooperation should evolve and review progress made over the last three years since the Johannesburg summit.

The Chinese diplomat dismissed assertions that China is benefiting more from the cooperation with Africa, saying that China sticks to the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith in cooperation with Africa.

As for China-aided projects in Zimbabwe, he mentioned the upgrading of the Victoria Falls International Airport and the Kariba South hydro-electricity project, among others.

“I just want to cite a few examples which show that African countries really benefited a lot from the cooperation with China over the last three years,” he said.