Zambian President Rupiah Banda meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo in Lusaka, Zambia, July 26, 2010. (Xinhua Photo)

Zambian President Rupiah Banda on Monday met with visiting Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, discussing ways to strengthen Zambia-China cooperative relations and further develop friendship between the two countries.

President Banda said that Zambia has achieved obvious economic and social progress in recent years and the country has developed into a new page. He contributed this partly to the concrete cooperation with China.

It's believed that Zambia will experience new change with further development of bilateral friendship and cooperation, Banda said, expressing hope to keep on high-level exchanges of visits between governments and parties of the two sides, as well as cooperation in all fields such as economy, trade, infrastructure, education and health care, with the aim to push forward Zambia- China relations to a new step.

The President noted that it is grateful to see active investment from China to Zambia, which did help the country overcome the difficulties encountered in the global financial crisis. Chinese investors are always welcomed to start business in Zambia as an engine to boost local economy.

Dai, for his part, hailed the traditional friendship between the two countries and reviewed the Zambian President's successful visit to China in February this year when he and Chinese President Hu Jintao reached common views in future development of bilateral relations.

China will together with Zambia work hard to realize the common views and well push forward the bilateral relations, the Chinese senior official said.

"The China-Zambia cooperation, which has achieved fruitful developments, is strategic and mutual-beneficial cooperation. The relations between the two sides is on the basis of mutual respect, equal ties and joint development," Dai said.

"In the past ten years, the world, Africa and China have all become more diverse. And we are glad to see that the varying and developments also took place in Zambia. With joint efforts of China and Zambia, cooperation in all sectors will be deeply enforced and China-Zambia and Sino-African relations will become further strengthen," Dai said.

Dai said China will insist on policies of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and noninterference of internal affairs, and endorse African nations' maintenance of independence and sovereignty and fighting against foreign interference.

Dai, who arrived in Lusaka on Sunday, also met with Zambian Vice President George Kunda and former President Kenneth Kaunda this morning, exchanging views over the international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Zambia is the last leg of Dai's eight-day five-nation Africa tour, which has also taken him to Ethiopia, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

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