Learn From China Economic Growth - ZACCI

By Mutale Kapekele

Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) says Zambia should learn from China’s example of growing its economy to the point of pushing its people from chronic poverty to the middle class.

In the last few decades China’s has splinted from a poor country to a rapid growing emerging market with an average economic growth of 12% per annum.

China’s economic growth has driven most of its poor into the middle class, an example that ZACCI says Zambia could emulate.

In an interview after the just ended ‘From Low To Middle Income Status: Preparing Zambia to Create The Future,’ ZACCI Vice President for International Relations Andrew Sinyangwe said China had planned ahead to get its economy to where it is.

He said Zambia benefited from the Chinese economic growth through mineral exports and urged the country to learn from China’s planning system.

Last year, Zambia recorded copper exports worth US$ 6.9 billion, most of which was bought by China.
“China has planned ahead. That is why they are buying so much copper for stockpiling,” Sinyangwe said. “What Zambia can do is to maximise the use of copper proceeds by developing the agriculture sector service provisions and grow the gemstone mining. We have diamonds, rutile, tin and gold just lying under the surface. We should use that wealth as a country to bridge the poverty gap.”

He said there was need for the private sector and the citizens to come up with innovative ideas of cooperation to make easier for Zambia to reduce the gap between the haves and have-nots.