Prospects for Mozambique-China Partnership in the Context of the Current Global Environment

Abstract

The foundations of relations between Mozambique and China can be traced back to the 1960s, during the time of Mozambique’s struggle for national independence from colonialism and imperialism. At that time, China fully supported our liberation and was the first to recognize Mozambique as state on our Independence Day, June 25, 1975.

Ambassador of the Republic of Mozambique to the People’s Republic of China.

Introduction

The foundations of relations between Mozambique and China can be traced back to the 1960s, during the time of Mozambique’s struggle for national independence from colonialism and imperialism. At that time, China fully supported our liberation and was the first to recognize Mozambique as state on our Independence Day, June 25, 1975. Consequently, on 2 July of the same year, the two countries signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, covering areas ranging from the political-diplomatic to the social-economical, and cultural. On the same occasion, China opened its diplomatic embassy in Maputo.

Over time, our bilateral relations, based in friendship, solidarity, and cooperation, have continued to consolidate and flourish. The consistent spirit of trust, friendship, and shared vision embedded in this traditional relationship and constitutes the basis for the building of a common bright future. In fact, in 2016, the heads of state of the two countries decided to elevate Sino-Mozambican relations through establishment of a Global Strategic Cooperation Partnership (GSCP). From then on, there have been unrestrained and legitimate expectations and hope that in the next two decades, our bilateral strategic cooperation will further enhance the synergies between both countries.

In this globalized and interdependent world, characterized by rapid and dramatic changes and uncertainties derived from, among others, pandemics, poverty, conflicts, terrorism, strains in the relationships between world powers, and the redrawing of geopolitics, the two countries should further unite their efforts and deepen their relationship to high level in all aspects, in order to form a common front and help and assist each other in addressing these old and new challenges. In fact, is expected more practical and programmatic bilateral cooperation with tangible results from the implementation of the Global Strategic Partnership Cooperation, especially in the areas with great potential.

The Prospect for the Mozambique-China Partnership in the Context of Current Global Environment

The current global environment presents enormous opportunities that have emerged from the advances in innovation and technology and trends in globalization, but there are also huge challenges in the form of poverty, climate change, food insecurity, public healthcare, conflicts, cyber-security, and debt crises, among others, which require a collective response. Indeed, the deep interconnections and interdependency among countries highlight the importance of common efforts and international cooperation in finding solutions to common concerns. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is still being felt in every corner of the globe and has undermined the development and progress of many countries, particularly in the developing world.

It is in this context that China plays a crucial role in assisting and working with its friends and partners in the developing world, like Mozambique, to take hold of existing opportunities and respond to the challenges they face in terms of socio-economic recovery, progress and well-being of the people.

In looking at bilateral cooperation between China and Mozambique, one can see a tremendous increase over the last two decades. The existing bilateral Global Strategic Cooperation Partnership between the two countries has provided the necessary legal framework for broadening this relationship and produced mutually beneficial results. I believe that this partnership has created and enhanced a positive environment for more dynamic cooperation policies and programs that can boost institutional development and financial mobilization in relevant areas. However, this success will depend on strategic guidance, effective operational arrangements and a strong mechanism for knowledge development, learning and accountability. This reinforces the need for an Action Plan in the implementation of the GSCP.

The success or failure of this partnership will depend on a number of factors both on the domestic and global levels. Some of the preconditions for success include common vision, deepening mutual knowledge, trust, confidence, commitment, open communication, accessibility, flexibility, pursuing mutual interests and benefits, and setting goals and tangible results.

Open communication is the backbone of any effective partnership and regular consultations at all levels are of extreme importance. Therefore, the two sides must be ready to continue mutual visits, promote open discussions, work together, and commit adequate resources to the implementation for projects that have been agreed upon.

I am positive about the future of Mozambique-China bilateral cooperation. I believe that both sides will make efforts to jointly continue to manage a combination of factors and circumstances both in terms of domestic developments and unforeseeable global events.

Areas of Potential Success and Development

As mentioned earlier, the beginning of the future of relations between Mozambique and China was agreed upon by President Xi Jinping of China and Filipe Jacinto Nyusi of Mozambique as “supporting each other in matters of vital interest and of great importance” in range of vital issues areas including political-diplomatic, social-economic, peace and security, tourism and culture, infrastructure, industrialization, and many others. This is a clear indication of the political will and mutual understanding between both parties. In the current global environment, the following scenarios for partnership between Mozambique and China are of particular relevance:

Scenario I: Areas with Strong Potential of Success and Development

This scenario is supported by existing political will and mutual understanding. Our political-diplomatic relations are excellent and based on shared values and principles, profound friendship, trust, mutual respect and support and collaboration. These are the pillars of our bilateral relations and serve as a driving force for the success. Also our “ideologically driven” wills feed and sustain our bilateral relations on both the political-diplomatic and socio-economic level. Indeed, the preconditions for success in Mozambique-China strategic cooperation are already in place. Programs and projects are also in place and are in an advanced stage of maturation. This is the case for political-diplomatic and to some extent trade.

• (a) Political-Diplomatic

We expect that the two sides will continue to strengthen their cooperation in this field, namely at the governmental level through both legislative institutions and local governments. Our high-level political dialogue has been the backbone of the bilateral relations, with frequent contacts between the leaders of the two countries and regular coordination, which have remained undisrupted even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two countries also conduct visits at different levels, annual bilateral political consultations as well as meetings and consultations of a Bi-national Commission and various working groups.

In this context, we hope that the two sides will continue to support each other in matters of vital interest concerning national sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, and stability. Mozambique will continue to defend the “One China” principle and China will continue to support Mozambique against external interference. In governance, the two countries will also encourage “ties between cities and provinces” and cooperation between local governments.

• (b) Cooperation in Regional and Multilateral Forums

Mozambique and China have been engaging in close consultation and coordination within the framework of different forums, particularly at the United Nations, the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the Forum for Cooperation between China and Portuguese Speaking countries (Macau Forum), the Belt and Road Initiative and others on issues of common interest, such as international peace and security, poverty reduction, climate change, development and multilateralism. We have also supported each other on issues of vital importance like human rights, non-interference in internal matters, and promoting fruitful economic cooperation.

The election of Mozambique as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period of 2023–2024 represents another window for our two countries to coordinate and defending the importance maintenance of multilateralism and world peace and security.

• (c) Peace and Security

On this topic, the two sides will continue to support each other in “resolving territorial and maritime disputes”, and in safeguarding “national security and stability”. Likewise, the two sides will continue to cooperate on promoting institutions dealing with law and order and defense and security such as the armed forces, police, intelligence services, and migration services.

We have also decided to cooperate in the area of national defense, including increasing our capacity to safeguard stability, share information, and train staff, specifically to fight extremism in Cabo Delgado. We hope that China will continue to provide equipment, technology, and military industry knowledge to augment our security and defense capabilities.

Scenario II: Areas with Potential for Success and Development

The current global situation provides both challenges and opportunities for strengthening bilateral cooperation. New areas have emerged and others present enormous potential to be explored in order to generate success and development. These include health and sanitation to prevent future pandemics, social protection policies, actions to ensure economic recovery, technological research and development, trade, investment and finance, human development, peace and security, as well as tourism and culture and people-to-people exchanges.

• (a) Health and sanitation issues

COVID-19 has highlighted the need for regular and close cooperation in the health sector, especially in increasing the production capacity of developing countries, like Mozambique, in terms of protective and medical materials, capacity building, and training to secure access to resources for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment in the case of a future pandemic.

Reinforcement of training and human capacity in the health sector is of paramount importance now and represents a huge opportunity for bilateral cooperation. In this context, China is committed to continue sending Chinese medical teams to Mozambique. Apart from that, my county is looking forward to maximizing the use of the new Center for Exchange and Cooperation for the Prevention of Pandemics between China and Portuguese Speaking countries in Macau as well as the promotion of exchanges on traditional medicine.

• (b) Economic Recovery, Investment, and Trade

A fruitful partnership in the economic field is central to a win-win and mutual beneficial forms of cooperation, since it generates profits, jobs, and wealth for both sides. Therefore, measures and efforts for the promotion of trade and investment continue to be essential for economic recovery on both sides.

Mozambique is reviewing its policies to improve the environment for business and trade. In this context, Mozambique has decided to abolish tourism and business visas for all types of Chinese passports. Apart from that, an e-visa has been introduced for the remaining visas, which is aimed at facilitating Chinese people to travel to Mozambique to explore business opportunities and enjoy the fantastic and exotic tourism atmosphere of the country.

We welcome the Chinese decision to grant zero tariffs to Mozambican products exported to China, for 98% products of all taxed items. This provides opportunities for Mozambique to increase and diversify its exports to China. Nevertheless, flexibility is necessary in order to remove and ease all non-tariff and administrative barriers from the Chinese side and allow companies to register and export their products. At the moment, the trade balance is in favor of China.

China and Mozambique have also agreed to encourage more Chinese companies to invest in Mozambique to increase the production capacity of Mozambican products entering the Chinese market. In this process, China and Mozambique also recognize the need for assistance and encouragement in the development of small and medium enterprises, specially, in agro-processing, taking into the account their importance to the livelihoods of people in Mozambique.

• (c) Human Development, Tourism, and Culture

Both sides are expected to expand human and cultural exchange and promote cooperation in areas of culture, education, health, youth, academia, and media. It is also expected that China will provide more scholarships to Mozambique. There is a positive record in this area and it is expected to continue in the same way. In fact, the two sides are expected to promote efforts conducive to the resurgence of tourism, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes conducting cross-border promotions of tourism and visa abolition and making it easier for people to travel between the two countries.

China is willing and committed to encouraging Chinese citizens to travel to Mozambique. The Chinese authorities are also ready to support national companies to invest in Mozambique, particularly in the building of hotels, tourist facilities, and other tourist infrastructure. The good news is that four years after signing the GSCP, Mozambique-China Cultural Center and the Confucius Institute, were built in Maputo and are ready to be used. This mutual effort also culminated in the construction of additional infrastructure that will soon be operational. These will be useful in promoting exchanges between young people, academics, and media from both countries. This is one of the few issue areas that presents huge potential to flourish in the near future.

• (d) People-to-people exchanges

A part from political, economic, human resources development and health, people-to-people exchanges have been defined as central to the partnership between the two countries as a guarantor for mutual understanding and a legacy for future relations. From this perspective, Mozambique and China are eager to foster the cultural exchange and connectivity, education, and tourism and youth cooperation.

Scenario III: Strong Potential Success in the Long term

This scenario is supported by the existence of the preconditions for successful strategic cooperation coupled with shared values and principles rooted in the traditional bilateral relations between Mozambique and China. These features serve as an important driving force for future development of both countries since the strategic cooperation partnership has been promoted in a contest of “mutual understanding”. The issue areas are for long-term execution lie in productive capacity, manufacturing, railway infrastructure, industrialization, and modernization.

These are Mozambique’s priorities and, therefore, are of paramount importance. But because of their dimension and financial resources involved, it is very unlikely that they will be implemented over the short term. However, some projects could start at any time.

• (a) Financial, Investment, and Infrastructure

In financial matters, both countries will continue to explore multiple options to improve and reinforce bilateral cooperation. However, it is expected that in the long term, both sides will remain committed to opening branches of financial institutions in each country. The idea behind this is to encourage national enterprises to use national currency in investment and trade, among other desired activities.

The agreement also states that “as a priority”, both sides have agreed to encourage the Chinese business community and financial institutions to invest in infrastructure in Mozambique. This investment is supposed to be directed to issue areas with huge potential and far reaching economic and social impact. It was also highlighted that priority will be given to the construction of railways, highways, airports, power stations, communications, and IT infrastructure.

For this purpose, the investment would come in the form of public-private partnerships (PPP), or at least a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) framework. This has opened up opportunities for private company participation in the development and construction of strategic infrastructure in Mozambique. The hope is that over the next two decades, it will be possible to implement these two financing mechanisms.

Both sides are also determined to work together in the promotion of “Belt and Road Initiative” projects for mutual benefit, including coastal aquaculture, sea fishing, maritime transport, construction of ports and industrial parks in port areas and maritime scientific research, among others.

• (b) Industrialization, Agriculture, and Science and Technology

In these spheres, both countries have agreed to continue to coordinate plans and policies that increase production capacity, in the fields of energy and mineral exploration and manufacturing, among others. The more important goal is to take actions to speed up industrialization and modernization in Mozambique. Likewise, it is expected that under this partnership, support will be given to Mozambique to increase agricultural production of grains, cash crops, and livestock. The development of storage capacity and the processing of agricultural products will continue to be issues of concern in the agricultural modernization of Mozambique.

The agreement on agriculture emphasizes the need for adoption of effective measures to strengthen cooperation in the areas such as entry and exit inspection and the quarantine of animals and plants, among others. These actions are aimed at allowing the entry of food and agricultural products into the two markets, expanding the scope of bilateral trade. By doing this, it is also expected that the two countries will be able to reach the goal of a “trade balance”. Both sides are expected to make proper use of the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Mozambique for promotion of joint research, demonstration, and training as well as for the transfer of agricultural technology to Mozambique.

China is moving for high-quality development through technology and innovation towards building a modernized society. Mozambique being China strategic partners will for sure benefit from its experiences and assistance in this sphere in order to integrate in the new era.

Conclusions

The prospect for future relations between Mozambique and China is promising considering the existing trust, political will, and commitment from both parties to building a sound strategic partnership in all areas of cooperation. The current global environment brings new challenges and opportunities for our relations in the context of our mutual understanding, plans, and programs.

In essence, the existing deep friendship, the political will, economic and trade opportunities as well as the mutual understanding we have constitute the driving forces and factors for future expansion in the relations between our two countries. It is important to note the commitment of the leadership in ensuring effective implementation of agreed upon programs and projects, including enhancement of the coordination between the teams at the regional and country levels.

Despite the existing asymmetry in development in Mozambique and China, the existing partnership is a strong and useful tool in bridging ideological gaps, enabling two sides to pursue economic and social gains. In fact, a win-win situation doesn’t necessarily mean sharing the gains on a 50% basis of gains for each partner. But also it is not based on a sum zero game. Additionally, it represents a collective action with collective gain in terms of sharing values and principles, as well as the commitment offered by the parties involved in the strategic partnership.

The major thematic subjects, such as infrastructure (bridges, roads, and railways) will only be translated from paper to reality over a long period due to the institutional hurdles. The lack of a Plan of Action makes a difference in assessing this process. Therefore, its absence makes it difficult to predict subsequent actions within the context of bilateral strategic cooperation. Certainly, political will and mutual understanding are not enough to overcome budget constraint challenges (Scenario III), but we are confident that both sides will strengthen their partnership by focusing on jointly selected priorities and by leveraging institutional strengths and synergies.

Against this background, the existing strategic partnership will allow the two countries to work together and share the opportunities offered by the current global environment and pursue shared economic and diplomatic interests. The strategic partnership between Mozambique and China not only serves the interests of both sides, but it also helps to promote partnerships between China and developing countries with the view of a future of common prosperity.

Is expected that Mozambique and China will strengthen cooperation and collaboration and put more resources into economic investment, social cultural development, institutional strengthening, and longer-term development in achieving GSCP goals.

The cooperation between Mozambique and China is a long-term undertaking and should continue to be guided by common values, principles, and measurable actions. The current commitment from both sides is also expected to continue in areas such as resources (human, material, and financial) with regular evaluations and additional efforts to introduce new programs and to expand collaboration. Success, of course, will depend upon a number of factors, such as leadership, resources, management, and assessment and signals from the global system.

I am certain that, in time to come, the current domestic and international challenges will be gradually overcome, including the geopolitics interest and geostrategic aspiration of certain countries. This is the case of the wars in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as food, poverty, energy, climate change, and financial crises. Both countries will continue to jointly find common solutions towards building community for shared future.