On the evening of November 26, a big dinner themed "mutual beneficial cooperation, common development" was hosted by Zambia Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Lusaka. The banquet was aimed at renewing the friendship between Zambia and China, and promoting exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
Edgar Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia, Yang Youming, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, Tao Xinghu, Vice President of CNMC, Chairman of the Board of Directors of China Nonferrous Mining Corporation Limited and Chairman of Zambia Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Chen Shijie, the Political Counselor and Ouyang Daobing, the Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy in Zambia, government ministers of Zambia, representatives of Chinese enterprises, and friendly personages of various circles attended the banquet.

Tao Xinghu extended warm congratulations to President Lungu on his winning the reelection. He said that in recent years, President Lungu had led Zambian government to create favorable business environment for foreign investors, been concerned about the development of Chinese-funded enterprises and promoted the cooperation between Zambia and China in all fields. Over the past 52 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Zambia and China, the relations between the two countries have become increasingly close, and more and more Chinese choose to take root in Zambia.

Tao Xinghu claimed that there were more than 600 Chinese-funded enterprises in Zambia at present and many of those companies carried out technical trainings regularly to teach the local staff to use the international advanced new technologies, so as to lead the technological development of Zambia. And meanwhile, the Chinese-funded enterprises were also actively fulfilling their social responsibilities, renovating schools for the local community, donating materials and providing financial support. He promised that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce would continue to build a good bridge between Chinese-funded enterprises and Zambia, leading the Chinese-funded enterprises to become a model for foreign investors and to make contributions to the development of Zambia.

Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming extended congratulations to President Lungu on his winning the re-election and wished Zambia greater achievements in national development. Mr. Yang said, China-Zambia relations had a long history and the two countries had kept frequent high-level exchanges. In March last year, President Lungu visited China and held talks with President Xi Jinping. The two sides reached a consensus on deepening bilateral relations. In December last year, President Lungu attended the Johannesburg Summit and drew the blueprint for development with African leaders. The Summit opened a new era of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Africa. Not long ago, 10 governors of Zambia arrived in China, and visited a series of development projects. From this visit, they have learned and accumulated valuable experience.Ambassador Yang Youming said that China's investment in Zambia totaled more than 3 billion US dollars. China is still increasing its investment in Zambia. In the first three quarters of this year, the investment in Zambia has increased by 270 million US dollars, ranking first in Africa. In the past, China has built Tanzania-Zambia railway, a government office building, Mwanawasa Hospital etc.; at present, the projects built under aid by China, such as Kaunda International Airport and Kafue Hydropower Station are still being constructed. It is believed that Zambia and China will accelerate the pace of cooperation under the framework of the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu said in his speech that Zambia had established diplomatic relations with China since its independence in 1964. In recent years, the two countries have continuously strengthened political mutual trust and realized fruitful cooperation in various fields. Moreover, Zambia has benefited a lot from the Chambishi Multi-Facility Economic Zone which is aided by China with a total value of over 900 million US dollars. China has provided 60 billion US dollars of financial support to Africa to implement the Johannesburg Summit's "Ten Cooperation Programs", and Zambia is one of the beneficiaries.

President Lungu said that Zambia had abundant investment opportunities and he welcomed more Chinese investors to invest in Zambia. He believed that, as a multiparty democratic country, Zambia has a stable political environment, free economic environment, all of which have provided a powerful safeguard for investors; Zambia is also a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and has provided a market for about 600 million customers; Zambia has favorable investment policies and a strong human resources base, which are favorable conditions for attracting foreign investments. The President hoped that the two countries would achieve more fruitful results in their future cooperation.

After the speech, Tao Xinghu gave a gift to President Edgar Lungu on behalf of the Chinese participants. Then, a performance kicked off in the lively local traditional singing and dancing. The Chinese people offered wonderful Chinese zither performance and traditional Chinese martial arts performance, which won the warm applause from the guests. The banquet culminated in the song of the China-Zambia chorus.