By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
ZAMBIA and China have signed two agreements to exchange notes on the establishment of national milling plants and on the donation of vocational education supplies.

. Chikwanda

During the signing of the agreements, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said Zambia and China needed to find practical solutions to the economic challenges the two countries were currently facing.
The agreements were signed yesterday at Pamodzi Hotel during the Zambia-China Joint Trade and Economic Committee meeting.
This was the first meeting since 1986 when the last one was held.
Mr Chikwanda signed on behalf of Zambia while Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Qian Keming signed on behalf of China.
The two agreements are a build-on on the matters discussed when President Edgar Lungu met Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to that country.
Zambia intends to establish milling plants countrywide with the support of China which would enable farmers to have their maize grinded within their areas.
Mr Chikwanda said Zambia and China needed to find practical solutions to the problems the two countries’ currencies were facing.
“Zambia and China have been hit by the economic global fall-out like the declining commodity prices and effects of climate change. We need to come up with practical solutions to the fall-out of global markets,” Mr Chikwanda said.
He said it was regrettable that the two countries had not held meetings in about two decades and yet trade between the two had increased.
In 1995, trade between Zambia and China was at US$21 million and increased to $3.8 billion in 2014.
Dr Qian said the Zambia-China joint trade and economic committee meeting was a result of the successful meeting President Lungu had with President Xi Jinping.
He said it was important to re-ignite the meetings because Zambia and China had a longstanding economic relationship.