Building on a solid foundation

Even if a business has good opportunities for growth and good investment, when it is settling in, it will encounter problems. The park has put in place measures and incentives aimed at improving the efficiency of services and has reduced the time it takes to obtain government approval for certain projects.

In addition, to provide ancillary services, including water, electricity, waste disposal, human resources, work permits and security, both sides need to put a great deal of effort into preliminary work. Increasingly more Chinese businesses are taking a look at the Lusaka park.

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After analyzing local market demand, the development of related industries and the basic needs of people, many Chinese businesses have been able to improve the quality of their products and services.

Among the large Chinese State-owned enterprises that have settled in are China Nonferrous Metal Mining, China State Farms Agribusiness, Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Qingdao Textile Corporation and Shenzhen ZTE Corporation.

From 2005, China granted tariff-free treatment to some categories of Zambian imports. From July 1, 2007, the number of tariff-free goods increased to 466. Last year, bilateral trade was worth $3.5 billion, an increase of 5 percent from the previous year, of which China's exports to Zambia were worth $770 million and imports $2.73 billion.

China mainly exports to Zambia pharmaceuticals, small machinery, clothing, electrical appliances, footwear, tires and ceramics, and China mainly imports from Zambia copper and cobalt metals.

In addition, the joint development of mineral resources in Zambia has made great progress. The Chambishi copper mine project is China's largest investment project in Zambia, with planned investment of $150 million. Chambishi is also the first offshore non-ferrous metal mine the Chinese government has approved and is a landmark project of China-Africa cooperation.

The author is a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin, who specializes in China-Africa investment and market policies. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.