Photo: VCG

Receiving an investment by Chinese company Dinson Iron and Steel Company under the Tsingshan Holding Group, a steel factory in Zimbabwe started construction on Thursday. The steel factory is located in the Mvuma, Midland Province of the African country. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa attended the groundbreaking ceremony, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday. 

During the ceremony, Mnangagwa said that thanks to this new facility, Zimbabwe will have one of the largest steel factories in the African continent and its annual steel output is expected to reach 600,000 tons. 

He said the steel factory project was a milestone for Zimbabwe to step into modernization and industrialization. The mineral industry is one of Zimbabwe's pillars and Mnangagwa believes that the factory will be a catalyst in the development of the domestic mineral industry, which will help Zimbabwe to become an energetic industrial center. 

According to the data from China's General Administration of Customs, trade between China and Zimbabwe in 2021 hit a record high of $1.882 billion, recording a year-on-year growth of 34.7 percent. Top Zimbabwean exports to China are tobacco leaves, cotton, ferrochrome and copper, while electromechanical products, computer and communication technology and textile products are the biggest Chinese exports to Zimbabwe.

Global Times