Chinese Premier Li Qiang is set to visit Zambia on Wednesday, the first such visit in 28 years, with the modernisation of the main railway linking Zambia’s copper belt to the Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania high on the agenda.
China has already approved a massive refurbishment of the Tanzania-Zambia (Tazara) Railway that is widely seen as a counter to the US/EU-backed Lobito Corridor.
It financed the line in the 1970s to reach Zambia's vast copper deposits through Tanzania on Africa's east coast and is continuing to invest as the West builds up its route to the country via Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Premier Li Qiang's arrival in Lusaka is part of a push to deepen China's presence in the copper-rich country as Europe and the US vie to become alternative benefactors now that Zambia's $13.4 billion in debt is on a more sustainable repayment plan.
Largest creditor
China is Zambia's largest official creditor with $5.7 billion owed.
Industrialising Zambia needs fresh investment for its mining sector, infrastructure network and production capacity, while China wants to boost exports of tractors, electrical equipment and construction vehicles.
The World Bank expects Zambia's economy to grow 6.5% next year, compared with an average of 5% over the past two decades.
Han Jing, China's ambassador to Zambia, said Li's visit was expected to produce dozens of cooperation agreements, according to a statement on the embassy's Facebook page.
Fresh investments
Chinese companies have invested around $6 billion in Zambia over the past 20 years, according to data from the American Enterprise Institute, almost all of which went into the metals sector.
The European Union's top official for international cooperation and development visited earlier this month to unveil fresh investments in transport, energy, agriculture and critical raw materials along the Lobito Corridor.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of US President Donald Trump, met Hichilema on Sunday, according to a post on the Zambian president's X account.
