Chinese Premier Li Qiang has begun a two-day visit to Zambia, marking the first trip by a Chinese premier to the country in 28 years.
The visit is expected to centre on strengthening Beijing’s access to critical minerals and advancing a major upgrade of the historic Tazara railway line.
China maintains significant investments in Zambia’s mining sector, particularly in copper production—an essential metal for global electronics manufacturing.
During the visit, both countries are set to sign agreements launching the $1.4 billion rehabilitation of the Tazara railway, which connects Zambia’s mining heartland to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam.
President Hakainde Hichilema applauded China’s longstanding partnership, recalling Beijing’s pivotal role in financing and constructing the Tazara line in the 1970s.
“The Chinese people decided to support their brothers and sisters in Zambia by building this rail line, which opened our trade to the Indian Ocean after southern routes were cut off due to colonial-era challenges,” Hichilema said.
The railway, built as a strategic lifeline during the Cold War, allowed Zambia to bypass transport routes controlled by white minority regimes in then-Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa.
Premier Li described China as “a good brother, good friend, and good partner of Zambia,” reaffirming Beijing’s commitment to deepen its “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” with Lusaka.
“We want to work with Zambia to advance modernisation and build an even stronger China–Zambia community with a shared future,” he said.
Li’s visit comes as Zambia recovers from a prolonged financial crisis and China aims to expand markets for its exporters.
The premier, China’s second-highest-ranking official after President Xi Jinping, is making the stopover en route to the G20 summit in South Africa.
