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Chinese Ambassador Publishes Op-Ed on Zambia’s Role in China-Africa Cooperation, Not a Competition Arena

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On April 3, 2023, Du Xiaohui (杜曉暉), China’s ambassador to Zambia, published a signed op-ed titled “Zambia Should Be a Stage for All Countries’ Cooperation in Africa, Not a Competition Arena” (贊比亞應是各國對非合作大舞台，而非競技場) in three Zambian outlets: the Zambia Daily Mail, the Daily Nation, and The Mast. The article was timed to coincide with the completion of the Lower Kafue Gorge 750-megawatt hydropower station and used it as the centerpiece for a broader argument about the character of China’s engagement with Zambia. Du framed the project as evidence of China’s adherence to the principles of “mutual benefit and win-win” (互利共赢) and “open and inclusive” (開放包容) cooperation, invoking the friendship between the two countries as “as firm and enduring as the TAZARA railway.” The article directly pushed back against what it characterized as “unwarranted accusations” from “unfriendly countries” during the project’s construction. It argued that Zambia and Africa should be a “great stage” (大舞台) for the cooperation of all countries rather than a “competitive arena” (競技場), a standard CCP formulation that positions its engagements as selfless acts showing generosity in particular towards countries in the Global South. The piece invoked the concept of a “development deficit” (發展赤字) as the framing problem China’s engagement purports to solve.

China and Zambia Co-Host UN High-Level Meeting on International Cooperation in AI Capacity-Building

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On September 25, 2024, the governments of China and Zambia jointly hosted the High-Level Meeting on International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence (人工智能能力建設國際合作高級別會議) on the margins of the general debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) attended and addressed the event alongside Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Zambia’s Minister of Technology and Science Felix Mutati, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, with high-level representatives from more than 80 countries and international organizations participating. The meeting was convened as a follow-up to UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/78/311 on “Enhancing International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence” (關於加強人工智能能力建設國際合作的決議), which China had tabled and which passed by consensus in July 2024 with 143 co-sponsoring states. In his remarks, titled “Promoting Development for All and Bridging the AI Divide,” Wang announced China’s AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All (人工智能能力建設行動計劃), a ten-point program organized around five areas: AI and digital infrastructure connectivity; model development and application cooperation; talent development and AI literacy; data construction and security governance; and AI safety and controllability. Wang also promoted Xi Jinping’s Global AI Governance Initiative (全球人工智能治理倡議), first proposed in October 2023, as the normative framework for international AI cooperation, framing it as a multilateralist alternative to what he characterized as hegemonic governance — specifically rejecting “using a single set of values as the sole standard for AI governance.” He proposed that China and Zambia co-establish a Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity-Building (人工智能能力建設國際合作之友小組) at the United Nations to advance implementation of the resolution and the action plan. In CCP diplomatic discourse, “friendship” generally carries political expectations of accommodation of China’s core interests.

China and Zambia Co-Host Inaugural Meeting of Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity-Building at the United Nations

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On December 3, 2024, China and Zambia co-hosted the inaugural meeting of the Group of Friends for International Cooperation on AI Capacity-Building (人工智能能力建設國際合作之友小組) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, formally establishing the group. Fu Cong (傅聰), China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Prudence Kaoma, acting Permanent Secretary of Zambia’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning, delivered opening remarks, with representatives from more than 80 countries and several UN agencies attending, including the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. The group was established as a direct follow-up mechanism to UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/78/311 (關於加強人工智能能力建設國際合作的決議) and to China’s AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All (人工智能能力建設行動計劃), announced at the September 2024 UN General Assembly high-level meeting. According to China’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Fu invoked Xi Jinping’s Global AI Governance Initiative (全球人工智能治理倡議) as the normative foundation for the group’s work, framing it around “fairness and inclusiveness” and “multilateralism” — terms China uses in AI governance contexts to promote state-centered regulatory frameworks as an alternative to norms that emphasize individual rights or Western institutional leadership. Kaoma said Zambia expected the group to bridge the AI divide and support the UN’s role in global AI governance. According to the People’s Daily, the meeting marked China’s second major AI governance event at the UN in three months.

People’s Daily and Zambian Media Conduct Joint Reporting on China-Africa Cooperation

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On July 29, 2024, the People’s Daily (人民日報) and several Zambian media outlets conducted a joint reporting visit in Lusaka under the theme “China-Africa Cooperation in the New Era” (新時代中非合作) — described as the first such joint reporting exercise between Chinese and Zambian media conducted on Zambian soil. Journalists from the People’s Daily, the Zambia Daily Mail, and the Daily Nation visited the Lusaka Park of the Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (中贊經貿合作區), described in the People’s Daily report as China’s first economic and trade cooperation zone in Africa. According to the People’s Daily, as of June 2024 the zone hosted nearly 90 Chinese enterprises with total investment exceeding 2.7 billion US dollars, and cumulative sales revenue of more than 28 billion US dollars. The joint visit was framed in the People’s Daily as an exercise in “telling the story of China-Zambia and China-Africa cooperation in the new era” (講好新時代中贊、中非合作故事) and “telling the story of high-quality Belt and Road Initiative co-construction” (講好高質量共建一帶一路故事) — formulations that echo Xi Jinping’s directive to “tell China’s story well” (講好中國故事), first issued at the 2013 National Propaganda and Ideology Work Conference. The report was published in the People’s Daily on July 31, 2024.

Chinese Embassy Pressures Zambia to Cancel RightsCon 2026

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On April 28, 2026, Zambia’s state-owned media announced the postponement of RightsCon 2026, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, which had been scheduled to take place at the Mulungushi Conference Center in Lusaka from May 5–8. The cancellation came after the Chinese Embassy in Zambia pressured the Government of Zambia over the planned participation of Taiwanese civil society at the event. According to Access Now, the New York-based organizer, Zambia’s Ministry of Technology and Science communicated on April 27 that Chinese diplomats were objecting to Taiwanese participants, and that — through multiple informal sources — the government’s condition for allowing the event to proceed was that Access Now moderate specific topics and exclude Taiwanese participants from both in-person and online participation. Access Now described this as a “red line” and cancelled the event on April 29 after receiving a formal postponement letter from the Ministry of Information and Media. The Zambian government’s stated rationale was the need to ensure “alignment with Zambia’s national values.” The Mulungushi Conference Center, the planned venue, had been refurbished in 2020 with approximately 60 million US dollars in Chinese government funding, which Zambian authorities at the time described as a “gift from China.” Three days before the postponement announcement, China’s Ambassador Han Jing (韓鏡) and Zambia’s Minister of Finance signed a development cooperation agreement. The planned conference had included panels on China’s export of digital authoritarianism, disinformation in Africa, and Chinese surveillance and censorship technologies. Amnesty International described the cancellation as “a brazen act of Chinese transnational repression.” Article 19’s Michael Caster argued that the incident was “emblematic of China’s broader efforts to influence global digital norms-setting” through a state-centric model of cyber sovereignty. Human Rights Watch senior Africa researcher Idriss Ali Nassah said the Zambian government’s stated reasons were “flimsy.” The Net Rights Coalition and more than 130 digital rights stakeholders condemned the cancellation, citing concerns about civic space ahead of Zambia’s August 2026 elections. NYU’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights noted the broader context of Chinese surveillance technology investment across Africa as a source of leverage in such incidents. Among the planned participants for RightsCon was Lingua Sinica project coordinator Dalia Parete, who was due to speak on global PRC media engagements and interference.

China Holds Friendship Media Awards in Zambia

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On December 12, 2017, the Chinese Embassy in Zambia held the first “China-Zambia Friendship Media Awards” (中贊友好媒體表彰會) in Lusaka, attended by Ambassador Yang Youming (楊優明), Minister of Information and Media Kampamba Mulunga, and approximately 150 representatives. The event recognized ten individuals and nine organizations with awards for “Media Excellence,” aimed at honoring those who promote mutual understanding through “active and objective reporting” (積極客觀報道) on the “China-Zambia traditional friendship” (中贊傳統友誼). In Communist Party discourse, “friendship” (友好) carries explicit political expectations of alignment with China’s positions, often fostered through institutional proxies to project unity while conditioning relationships on the accommodation of China’s core interests. Ambassador Yang encouraged journalists to capture China’s “ever-changing development” and provide “positive energy” (正能量) for bilateral relations, a term that directly references domestic news control policies requiring the press to support the Party’s image and stability. The embassy published the official report on December 13, 2017.

Ministry of Technology and Science Zambia

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The Ministry of Technology and Science (贊比亞科技部) is the Zambian government ministry responsible for formulating and implementing policies on technology, science, communications, and skills development. According to its official mandate, the ministry coordinates research to promote investment in science and technology, promotes advancement of knowledge and skills, and conducts science, technology, and innovation impact assessments, with the stated aim of accelerating Zambia’s transformation into a digital economy. It collaborates with industry and the private sector in developing relevant innovations and enforces standards, regulations, and licensing in its portfolio areas. The ministry was established in 2021 as part of the reorganization of government portfolios under President Hakainde Hichilema. It has been an active partner in Zambia’s AI governance engagement with China, including co-hosting the High-Level Meeting on International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence (人工智能能力建設國際合作高級別會議) at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2024, at which Zambia was represented by the minister.

Ministry of Finance and National Planning

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The Ministry of Finance and National Planning (贊比亞財政和國家計劃部) is the Zambian government ministry responsible for the preparation of the national budget, economic management, resource mobilization, debt management, and public finance management. Its mandate is derived from the Minister of Finance (Incorporation) Act of the Laws of Zambia, originally enacted in 1958. The ministry is also responsible for national visioning, national development planning, appraisal of public investments, and coordination of development assistance programs.

National Economic Council

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The National Economic Council (Dewan Ekonomi Nasional), or DEN, is an Indonesian presidential advisory body mandated to provide strategic recommendations to the President on the formulation and implementation of national economic policy. The council was originally established on November 30, 1999 under President Abdurrahman Wahid but was disbanded within a year. It was re-established on October 20, 2024 by President Prabowo Subianto with institutional status equivalent to a ministry. According to the council’s official profile, its functions include providing strategic advice to the President on alignment of economic policies with national priorities, recommending measures for effective implementation of priority programs.