China has pledged 5,000 tonnes of food aid this year to Zimbabwe where more than four million people will soon require aid, the official Herald newspaper reported Thursday, according to dpa. Deputy Chinese ambassador Ma Deyun also said that her country and Zimbabwe wanted to increase trade to 500 million US dollars in 2008 as China expands its presence in southern Africa. "This year (2007) has witnessed a steady growth of trade between our two countries and we are working together to push the trade volume to 500 million dollars in 2008," Deyun said at a ceremony to hand over 97 trucks ordered by the Zimbabwean government. "Five thousand tonnes of food aid that China provides to Zimbabwe will soon arrive in Zimbabwe, the deputy ambassador said. She said China had pledged to build two primary schools, a hospital and an Agriculture Technical Demonstration Centre in Zimbabwe this year. President Robert Mugabe's government has welcomed the support of China in the face of increasing Western disapproval over alleged rights abuses and economic mismanagement in the once-prosperous southern African country.
