Chinese Ambassador Publishes Op-Ed on FOCAC in Three Zambian Outlets

On September 5, 2022, Du Xiaohui (杜曉暉), China’s ambassador to Zambia, published a signed op-ed titled “The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Is of Great Significance to Zambia” (中非合作論壇對贊比亞意義重大) in three Zambian outlets: the Zambia Daily Mail, the Times of Zambia, and The Mast. The article was timed to promote the outcomes of the eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (中非合作論壇) ministerial coordination meeting, held on August 18, 2022 and chaired on the Chinese side by State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅), which was framed around building a “China-Africa community of shared future for the new era” (新時代中非命運共同體). The piece highlighted Chinese-built infrastructure in Zambia — notably the Lower Kafue Gorge 750-megawatt hydropower station, which the ambassador claimed accounts for 22 percent of Zambia’s total generation capacity and made Zambia a net electricity exporter — and promoted China’s support for reactivating the TAZARA railway between Tanzania and Zambia as evidence of ongoing partnership.