(Yicai) July 8 -- China and Namibia’s cooperation in agriculture and mining has emerged as a new high point of their relationship and is growing, building on decades of working together, former Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba told Yicai in an interview.

The 83-year-old former head of state, who has long championed relations between the two countries, arrived in Shanghai on July 6 and will attend the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Civilizations Dialogue being held in Beijing later this week.

Cooperation is growing in areas such as farming and mining, Mbumba said, adding that Namibia has vast livestock resources, mainly cattle, sheep, and goats. The southwest African country’s meat products are now being sold in the huge Chinese market, offering hope of higher incomes for Namibian farmers, he added.

Namibia next aims to promote its grapes in China, Mbumba said. The country has a subtropical desert climate characterized by hot weather with little rainfall and a far lower temperature at night, providing an ideal environment for cultivating grapes with high sugar content. Namibian grapes are mainly exported to European and US markets at the moment.

Mining is another high point of China-Namibia economic and trade cooperation, Mbumba noted. Namibia is the world’s third-largest uranium producer, with reserves of 280,000 tons, and the mining industry contributed 14.4 percent of its gross domestic product in 2023. Chinese enterprises are also playing an important role in the nation’s mineral development, he added.

Mbumba emphasized that China supported Namibia’s struggle for independence, which it achieved in 1990, from the 1960s onward, forging a friendship deeply rooted in their shared history. He cited his multiple visits to China, from his first trip in the 1990s to his participation in last year’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as Namibia’s president.

Namibia can learn from China’s long history and its modernization achievements, while African civilization stands out for its diversity. “If we are not learning from one another, if we are not interacting with one another, if we are not learning to understand one another, then the world will never enjoy peace,” he pointed out.

Mbumba said he hoped to use his trip to Beijing to promote deeper dialogue between China and Namibia, as well as between China and the wider African continent.

Editor: Tom Litting