Source; Global Figures

Author: Xu Ye

When he was a child, he was a "cattle herder" who relied on studying to change his destiny. After running for office six times, he became the president. Now, he is on his first visit to China and his first stop is in Shenzhen.

He is Zambian President Hakand Hichilema.

·On September 10th, Xiqileima visited Shenzhen.

Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji will meet with President Xichilema.

From September 10th to 12th, Xiqilema visited Shenzhen. For over 40 hours, he visited and inspected Lianhuashan Park, Yantian International, BYD, Huawei, Tencent, ZTE, and other places to learn about Shenzhen's experience and explore development opportunities.

At the summit square of Lianhuashan Park, he admired the bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping and presented a bouquet of flowers. On that day, he posted on social media stating that he was "deeply inspired by Deng Xiaoping's story" and that "Shenzhen has transformed from a small fishing village over 40 years ago to today's high-tech center... When there is visionary leadership, economic development will continue to improve.".

·President Xichilema and his wife paid their respects to the bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping and presented a bouquet at Lianhuashan Park in Shenzhen.

It is worth noting that in addition to Shenzhen, President Xichilema will also visit Jiangxi Province and Fujian Province.

Why did he go to these three places?

"Cowherd Boy" Counterattacks

Everything about Xichilema should start from 1962.

In June of that year, he was born into a low-income family in the southern province of Zambia. At that time, the wave of national independence was sweeping across Africa, and Zambia gained independence from British colonial rule in 1964, two years later.

During his youth, Xichilema was a "cattle herder" who helped his family herd cows every day.

In order to attend university, he studied diligently and went to the University of Zambia by receiving a scholarship. After graduation, he continued his studies overseas and studied at the University of Birmingham in the UK, obtaining a Master's degree in Finance and Business Strategy.

After returning to Zambia from the UK, he joined a large international accounting company and became the CEO of the Zambia branch at the age of 32. But this is far from the peak of his career.

Xichilema later became a businessman, with a business map covering multiple fields such as finance, real estate, tourism, healthcare, agriculture, etc. He is the largest local shareholder of Barclays Bank Zambia Branch and the second largest rancher in Zambia.

Despite becoming one of the wealthiest people in Zambia, Hichilema said, "An ordinary citizen, an ordinary African."

·Xichilema.

In 2006, Xichilema entered politics and joined the National Development United Party. In the same year, the founder of the party, Mazoka, passed away, and Hichilema succeeded him as the party leader.

Since then, Hichilema has participated in six Zambian presidential elections, but the first five have all ended in failure.

"When Xichilema first ran for election, he was relatively young and had not been in politics for long. As an opposition leader, although he was in politics, many people at that time did not consider him a member of the political circle, but rather a member of the business circle. To put it more bluntly, he was seen as an 'outsider'."

Zhang Yongpeng, a researcher at the China Institute of African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times that Zambia has long had a stable political situation, and it is difficult for Shichilema, who is seen as an outsider, to defeat other people with deep political foundations in the election.

According to foreign media reports, Hichilema has been arrested 15 times since entering politics, the most recent of which was after the 2016 Zambian elections.

At that time, the National Development United Party led by Xichilema lost the election and accused the election of violating regulations, refusing to acknowledge the final result. Shortly thereafter, members of the party joined forces to boycott a speech by elected president Rungu. In April 2017, Hichilema refused to give way to Lungu's convoy in accordance with regulations, and was arrested on suspicion of "treason" and imprisoned for four months.

Local young people call him "Bali"

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Despite repeated defeats in battle, Xiqilema became more and more brave in battle. In 2021, he ran for the sixth time in the presidential election. This time, many young people decided to vote for him.

Swaz Mukunta was studying at the University of Zambia at the time. On the day of the vote, she woke up before dawn and arrived at the polling station at 5am. Unexpectedly, there was already a long queue at the scene.

"This is my first time participating in a vote and I want to see a change. Nowadays, things are too expensive and we are greatly affected. Sometimes I can only have one meal a day," said Mukunta.

In recent years, Zambia has faced many challenges: drought, power shortage, poor agricultural harvest, high foreign debt, and the COVID-19. In 2020, Zambia's total external debt climbed to 12 billion US dollars, becoming the first African sovereign default country since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to statistics, more than 50% of Zambia's 7 million registered voters are under the age of 35, and nearly 20% of these young people are unemployed.

Young people like Mukunta are eager to see a vibrant and energetic new face take office, bringing change to Zambia.

"Xiqilema is perfectly able to respond to the needs of young people," said Zhang Yongpeng. Unlike the stereotypical image of political elites, Xiqilema itself is more active.

He will use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to bring himself closer to young people. On the internet, he doesn't always post topics related to politics.

For example, he often posts updates related to football, likes Zambia's women's football team's appearance in the Women's World Cup, and follows Zambia's players transferring to Europe. If Manchester United and Arsenal lose, he will still joke and make fun of the fans of these two teams.

·During this year's Women's World Cup, Xichilema often cheered on Zambian women's football on social media.

For example, he also shows off his love, saying that his wife is his "best friend" and that they will spend "many, many years" together.

·Xiqileima took a photo with his wife on his wedding anniversary.

What is more attractive to young people is that Xiqilema started from scratch and his ability to make money has been proven. During the election, he stated that if elected president, he would be committed to promoting economic growth, reducing public debt and poverty.

In August 2021, Xiqilema received over 2.8 million votes, while his arch rival Lungu only received over 1.8 million votes. Hichilema was overwhelmingly elected as the President of Zambia.

Immediately, thousands of supporters of Xichilema rushed onto the streets, shouting "Bali" - a nickname previously given to him by young people, meaning "father" in slang.

·In the 2021 Zambian general election, many young people voted for Hichilema.

Xichilema believed that he was not the master of the people, but a servant of the people.

After 8 months as president, media reports stated that he did not receive any salary after becoming president. When asked about this matter, he said he didn't pay attention to the issue of salary and only focused on how to improve people's lives.

"Together, we will achieve a win-win situation."

Now, President Xichilema has been in office for two years.

"During this period, he did a lot of work, such as creating a good investment environment, further improving national laws, building communication infrastructure, and so on. In addition, he not only valued mining, but also agriculture, striving to diversify Zambia's economy," said Zhang Yongpeng.

Zambia is rich in copper mines, and the mining industry is the main pillar industry of the national economy. "In the past, many resource rich countries had a common problem of excessive reliance on dominant energy or mining industries, resulting in more dependence on a particular resource, less development in other fields, and a lack of economic diversification. Once faced with international risks such as changes in resource prices, they would face fatal blows. This situation is described as the 'resource curse'."

Under the leadership of Shichilema, Zambia's economic growth rate reached 4.7% in 2022. According to Zhang Yongpeng's observation, institutions including the International Monetary Fund have good expectations for the economic prospects of Zambia. Some institutions predict that Zambia's economic growth rate will also exceed 4% in the year after next.

·Xichilema.

Over the past year, China Zambia relations have maintained a positive development momentum, with bilateral trade reaching a historic high. Zambia has become the African country that attracts the most direct investment from China. The cooperation between the two countries has enormous potential and bright prospects.

"In terms of economic cooperation, China and Zambia have a wide range and coverage. In February 2007, China's first economic and trade cooperation zone in Africa was inaugurated, and this economic and trade cooperation zone is in Zambia. Zambia is one of the important partners in the joint construction of the the Belt and Road and an active participant in the Forum on China Africa Cooperation."

Zhang Yongpeng introduced that the friendship between China and Zambia has laid a solid foundation since the 1960s. At that time, Zambia's copper mines wanted to be exported, but they suffered from the lack of coastal ports and were frequently choked by European colonial countries. Finally, China extended a helping hand to Zambia and built the famous Tanzania Zambia Railway, solving the problem. The Tanzanian Railway is still known as the road of freedom, development, and friendship, and is also regarded as a monument of China Africa friendship. Later, in the major event of China's return to the United Nations, African countries such as Zambia also gave China firm support.

Currently, political mutual trust between the two countries continues to deepen, and pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results, maintaining good cooperation in international and regional affairs.

Now let's answer the question at the beginning again——

Why did Xiqilema visit China for the first time after taking office as president, to Jiangxi Province, Fujian Province, and Shenzhen City?

"Jiangxi is rich in copper resources, and Zambia is also known as the 'country of copper mines'. When President Hikilema goes to Jiangxi, he can learn about the development of copper and nonferrous metals industry and the cooperation of the' the Belt and Road 'project; Fujian is an important birthplace of the' the Belt and Road ', and now many Fujian enterprises are developing in Zambia; Shenzhen is the forefront of China's reform and opening up, and also a gathering place of sophisticated technology, where Hikilema will see the vitality and future of China's development." Zhang Yongpeng said.

·Xiqilema is visiting a company in Shenzhen.

During the process of visiting enterprises in Shenzhen, opportunities and opportunities are constantly mentioned by Xiqilema. He believes that China has the technology and Zambia has the resources. "Together, we will achieve a win-win situation.".

2024 will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Zambia. As Spokesperson Mao Ning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated at a regular press conference, it is believed that President Xichilema's visit will inject new impetus into the comprehensive and in-depth development of China Zambia relations, and promote continuous progress in friendly cooperation between the two countries.