Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks on Saturday with Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kasongo Kakubo in east China’s Anhui Province.

Kakubo is the first foreign minister of a sub-Saharan African country to visit China since the coronavirus outbreak, Wang hailed the traditional friendship between China and Zambia.

During the meeting, Wang said that the two sides should make persistent efforts to strengthen cooperation in traditional sectors, such as mineral development, and expand cooperation in emerging areas such as modern agriculture, manufacturing, and renewable energy.

For his part, Kakubo thanked China for its firm support in the country’s fight against the pandemic, and the vaccines provided by China have helped Zambia dramatically increase its vaccination rate from less than 3 percent to over 22 percent.

Kakubo said Zambia attaches great importance to the Zambia-China friendship and pledges to enhance pragmatic cooperation in all sectors.

“Zambia will continue to provide Chinese enterprises with a stable business environment and preferential tax policies,” Kakubo added.

The two sides agreed that the Tanzania-Zambia railway is a good example of the sincere friendship between China and Africa and vowed to make joint efforts in running the railway.

During the meeting, the two sides also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine.

Wang expounded China’s position on the issue.

Kakubo agreed that the conflict should be resolved through diplomatic negotiations and he expects China to continue to play a constructive role during the process towards peace.