Chinese Leader Tours Copper-Rich Zambia

LUSAKA, Zambia - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday was bringing his eight-nation African tour to Zambia, a copper-rich country where China's growing clout has prompted charges of exploitation and emerged as a volatile political issue.

Huge photos of Hu and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa greeted motorists on Lusaka's main roads in preparation for the tightly orchestrated three-day visit, which follows stops earlier this week in Cameroon, Liberia and Sudan.

Hu has used the tour to cement China's increasing economic and political ties and its fast-growing role as a foreign donor throughout the continent.

Hu was expected to attend talks with the recently re-elected Mwanawasa and a state banquet. The Chinese delegation asked for strict security measures and said Hu would not take questions from the media.

Mwanawasa has cultivated close ties with China, which has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Zambia's copper sector, an industry that accounts for 60 percent of the impoverished nation's exports.

China also has become a major foreign aid donor to Mwanawasa's cash-strapped government. Chinese investment in Zambia now totals more than $500 million, according to China's state-run news agency, Xinhua.

Hu's visit to Lusaka is expected to focus on new Chinese aid initiatives for Zambia and the inauguration Sunday of a new economic partnership zone in Zambia's Copperbelt province, which has become a key source of copper for China's growing economy.

But the Chinese delegation canceled plans to visit the Copperbelt province, where 51 Zambian workers died in a 2005 explosion at a Chinese-run mine.

Accidents and concerns over poor working conditions at Chinese-run copper mines - plus resentment over an influx of Chinese traders into the local apparel industry - fueled political backlash over the Chinese presence in last September's presidential elections.

Opposition challenger Michael Sata won support in urban areas after lashing out at what he called "exploiter" Chinese investors and threatening to recognize Taiwan, which China regards as a rebel province. This sparked an unusually public verbal dispute with the Chinese ambassador to Zambia.

"They're not here to develop Zambia, they're here to develop China," said Guy Scott, a Sata ally who represents Lusaka's central district in parliament.

The government has not invited Sata's party to public events during Jintao's visit due to its anti-China sentiments, according to the state-owned Daily Mail newspaper.

China's involvement in Zambia dates back to the early 1970s, when the Chinese government built a railway linking central Zambia to the nearest port city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Since the late 1990s, trade has soared.

At last year's conference between the Chinese government and African heads of state in Beijing, Zambia and China forged an agreement on a new $200 million copper smelter, to be built by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group.

The Beijing government has conducted road-building and water supply projects, and also sent Chinese physicians to practice in Zambia - important projects in a country where more than 70 percent of the population lives in poverty and the health care system faces serious shortages of doctors and nurses.

Hu's visit was preceded by a raft of new Chinese commitments, including the release of more than $6 million for the construction of a new soccer stadium in the mining town of Ndola and a $39 million grant for road building.

While many Zambians welcome the Chinese presence, many take a more wary view.

Joan van Otterdijk, a Zambian textile and clothing shop owner in Lusaka said cheap, low-quality Chinese-made textiles being sold by Chinese traders in Lusaka are "destroying our business."

He said China should concentrate on the mining sector "rather than putting themselves into these local businesses."

Chinese Leader Tours Copper-Rich Zambia

LUSAKA, Zambia - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday was bringing his eight-nation African tour to Zambia, a copper-rich country where China's growing clout has prompted charges of exploitation and emerged as a volatile political issue.

Huge photos of Hu and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa greeted motorists on Lusaka's main roads in preparation for the tightly orchestrated three-day visit, which follows stops earlier this week in Cameroon, Liberia and Sudan.

Hu has used the tour to cement China's increasing economic and political ties and its fast-growing role as a foreign donor throughout the continent.

Hu was expected to attend talks with the recently re-elected Mwanawasa and a state banquet. The Chinese delegation asked for strict security measures and said Hu would not take questions from the media.

Mwanawasa has cultivated close ties with China, which has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Zambia's copper sector, an industry that accounts for 60 percent of the impoverished nation's exports.

China also has become a major foreign aid donor to Mwanawasa's cash-strapped government. Chinese investment in Zambia now totals more than $500 million, according to China's state-run news agency, Xinhua.

Hu's visit to Lusaka is expected to focus on new Chinese aid initiatives for Zambia and the inauguration Sunday of a new economic partnership zone in Zambia's Copperbelt province, which has become a key source of copper for China's growing economy.

But the Chinese delegation canceled plans to visit the Copperbelt province, where 51 Zambian workers died in a 2005 explosion at a Chinese-run mine.

Accidents and concerns over poor working conditions at Chinese-run copper mines - plus resentment over an influx of Chinese traders into the local apparel industry - fueled political backlash over the Chinese presence in last September's presidential elections.

Opposition challenger Michael Sata won support in urban areas after lashing out at what he called "exploiter" Chinese investors and threatening to recognize Taiwan, which China regards as a rebel province. This sparked an unusually public verbal dispute with the Chinese ambassador to Zambia.

"They're not here to develop Zambia, they're here to develop China," said Guy Scott, a Sata ally who represents Lusaka's central district in parliament.

The government has not invited Sata's party to public events during Jintao's visit due to its anti-China sentiments, according to the state-owned Daily Mail newspaper.

China's involvement in Zambia dates back to the early 1970s, when the Chinese government built a railway linking central Zambia to the nearest port city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Since the late 1990s, trade has soared.

At last year's conference between the Chinese government and African heads of state in Beijing, Zambia and China forged an agreement on a new $200 million copper smelter, to be built by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group.

The Beijing government has conducted road-building and water supply projects, and also sent Chinese physicians to practice in Zambia - important projects in a country where more than 70 percent of the population lives in poverty and the health care system faces serious shortages of doctors and nurses.

Hu's visit was preceded by a raft of new Chinese commitments, including the release of more than $6 million for the construction of a new soccer stadium in the mining town of Ndola and a $39 million grant for road building.

While many Zambians welcome the Chinese presence, many take a more wary view.

Joan van Otterdijk, a Zambian textile and clothing shop owner in Lusaka said cheap, low-quality Chinese-made textiles being sold by Chinese traders in Lusaka are "destroying our business."

He said China should concentrate on the mining sector "rather than putting themselves into these local businesses."