China, Zambia make steady progress in development of economic cooperation zone

BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone has seen steady development and progress over the years, according to data from China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (CNMC).

Since its establishment in 2007, the economic cooperation zone has attracted nearly 100 businesses, with its total investment surpassing 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, according to the CNMC, a centrally-administered state-owned enterprise (SOE) that built the zone.

As Zambia's first multi-functional economic zone, it has also created over 10,000 local jobs, the CNMC said.

The company added that it would continue to scale up investment in Zambia and bring more Chinese investors to Zambia with the help of the cooperation zone.

So far, over 10 centrally-administered SOEs from China have worked with Zambia across various sectors, including mining, transportation, electricity, manufacturing and agriculture, yielding successful projects such as the Tazara Railway and Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station.