China Vice-Premier arrives in Zimbabwe

Chinese vice-premier Wang Yang has arrived in Zimbabwe at the start of an official trip to view his nation’s burgeoning trade and development ties in Africa. 

Officials at the Harare airport said Tuesday that the third ranking of China’s four vice-premiers in President Xi Jinping’s communist party is scheduled to meet with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday.

Mugabe’s party, facing travel, banking and trade bans in the West to protest its human rights record in the past decade, has promoted a “Look East” policy toward China and Asian nations for new investment in the southern African country’s troubled economy.

Critics accuse Chinese enterprises of receiving preferential commercial and mining rights that discriminate against local businesses.

Wang Yang travels on to a continent-wide African summit in Ethiopia later this week. Associated Press