Although Martin Chedondo took the position of Zimbabwe's ambassador to China in 2019, his history with China goes back to nearly 50 years ago when he received training from Chinese instructors while fighting for the liberty of his own country.

Martin Chedondo (Photo/haiwainet.cn)

“From the brave and passionate Chinese instructors, I learned about the revolutionary history of China and the Long March spirit of the Chinese people, which inspired the revolutionists in Zimbabwe,” said Chedondo.

 According to the ambassador, Zimbabwe has a large Chinese community, which has not only contributed to Zimbabwe's economic and social development in various fields such as mining and agriculture, but also actively assumed its social responsibilities.

 Chedondo pointed out that China has firmly supported Zimbabwe in the regard of choosing a development road that suits the conditions of the country. While Zimbabwe was restrained by western countries since it attempted to take back its land from the colonists, China provided assistance to Zimbabwe, said Chedondo.

 As the economy in Zimbabwe is recovering and the country is speeding up to improve the business environment, the country encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Zimbabwe, Chedondo noted.

 While he expects to expand the people-to-people exchanges between China and Zimbabwe, Chedondo hopes to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the regard of agriculture. “It is a miracle that China managed to maintain food security for a population of 1.4 billion,” he said, adding that Zimbabwe would like to introduce advanced technologies from China to improve its agricultural development system.