On August 23, 2023, the Chinese embassy in Namibia held China-Namibia Business Networking Reception aimed at promoting the working relationship and friendship between the Chinese Embassy and the relevant Namibian Government Ministries and Agencies which have direct responsibilities for Namibia-China business relations,as well as between the Embassy and the local business community including the Chinese companies in Namibia. The event was attended by about 180 guests including the representatives from the Namibian Government Ministries and Agencies such as Ministry of Industrialization and Trade, Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, National Planning Commission, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Social Services, Ministry of Works and Transport, Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, Investment Promotion and Development Board, local business and other communities, as well as Chinese companies and nationals in Namibia. Chinese Ambassador Zhao Weiping, Counsellor for Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Embassy Mr. Wei Jinming, and the Executive Director of the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade of Namibia Mr. Haihambo delivered remarks respectively. The event was directed by Mr. Shen Jian, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy.

Ambassador Zhao said in his remarks that over the past 40 more years, China’s economy has maintained a very high growth speed which resulted in China’s becoming the world’s second largest economy. Like other countries in the world, China’s economy suffered heavily in the last three years of pandemic. However, for the first half of this year, it picked up again to achieve a growth rate of 5.5% compared with the same period of last year, which was faster than the average annual growth rate for the last 3 years and made China a forerunner among the major economies of the world in terms of the rapidity of economic recovery from the pandemic. Recently, a series of important measures have been taken by the Chinese Government and the Chinese economy continues to show its strong tenacity and inner vitality as well as huge potential. The fundamentals sustaining China’s sound economic growth in the long run remain unchanged. Many international organizations like the World Bank and the OECD have lifted the prospect on China’s economic growth this year. Zhao pointed out that one of the challenges confronting China’s economy nowadays is the so-called “decoupling and severing supply chains” adopted by the US and its Western allies in an attempt to remove China from the key global production and supply chains and deprive China of just development rights. China will never succumb to such a practice of hegemony. The policy of suppressing China will eventually go nowhere and will only further disrupt the global economy.

Zhao said that China-Namibia economic and trade cooperation has made positive contributions to the economic and social development of Namibia. China is now the largest source of FDI and second largest trading partner of Namibia. The mining and other major projects invested by China in Namibia have provided Namibia with a bigger amount of fiscal revenue and created many jobs for the local Namibian people. China welcomes more Namibian products to enter its market. Zhao emphasized that China remains a developing country and China-Namibia economic cooperation is in essence south-south cooperation. China-Namibia relationship is more than an ordinary relationship between two developing countries because of the profound traditional friendship between China and Namibia. When planning the trade and economic relations, China always takes into consideration of the friendship the two countries forged over the long years. China will surely pay more attention to the actual needs of Namibia’s social and economic development and do the best to deepen bilateral cooperation in all the areas which are priorities for Namibia. 

Counselor Wei Jinming said in his speech that China and Namibia are natural economic and trade partners, and China's huge domestic demand provides a very broad market space for Namibia's mineral products, fishery, agriculture and animal husbandry. A large number of investment, engineering contracting projects, and financial aid projects implemented by Chinese enterprises have been completed one after another, which has promoted the economic and social development of Namibia and improved people's livelihood and well-being. At present, a lot of Chinese enterprises regard Namibia as a hot spot for investment. The areas of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries are constantly expanding and the potential is constantly being released. He looked forward to working together with friends from all walks of life to further strengthen China-Namibia pragmatic exchanges in various fields and continuously improve the level of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Mr. Haihambo, Executive Director of the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade of Namibia, spoke highly of the fruitful results of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and pointed out that Chinese investments had played a pivotal role in various sectors of Namibia's economy, contributing a lot to infrastructural development, technology transfer and employment opportunities for Namibian people. The trade relations between Namibia and China have transcended the boundaries of the geography and culture, fostering mutual understanding and economic growth. Mr. Haihambo also said he hopes that we will have continuous engagement and realization of all the objectives as set out in our commitments under the One Belt One Road initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.