The visit by the Foreign Affairs Minister of China, Wang Yi, reaffirms the importance of the relations with Namibia, as the two countries focus on implementing bilateral agreements.
This was emphasised by Chinese Ambassador Zhao Weiping ahead of Minister Wang's arrival in Namibia, as a first stop among the number of African countries he is confirmed to visit.
"Minister Wang is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, so he is at the deputy prime minister level. His visit to Namibia on Monday will be the highest-level visit since 2019, and the main purpose will be to reaffirm our strong commitment. His visit will be very important for our bilateral relationship because it will provide a very good opportunity for a high-level discussion on the future development of China-Namibia relations as we are implementing the outcomes of the FOCAC summit, which was held in Beijing, and we are also implementing the consensus reached by the two Presidents at their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit."
One of the outcomes of President Xi and President Mbumba's meeting is the planned export of mutton to China.
This is due to the growing demand for Namibian meat products in that country, where Namibia has been exporting beef.
The Namibian government too is aggressively pursuing the diversification of its export products, and so far, China has indicated market access to Namibian and other African goods.
"China really wants to import more Namibian products; that is not a problem. We have a market of 1.4 billion people, and also President Xi Jinping has made it very clear during the FOCAC summit that China will expand the market access for African agricultural products. So indeed this is encouraging news for the agricultural community of Namibia, and since 2019, we have been importing Namibian beef. Namibia was the first African country to export beef to China and is very popular in China, but there's a little regret that our market demand seems to be much larger than what Namibia can supply. In addition, our two governments are also discussing China importing Namibia's grapes, red crab, and other aquatic products; we just need to sort out some technical issues."
Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi's brief program in Namibia includes talks with President Nangolo Mbumba and Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
He is expected to proceed to the DRC, Chad, and Nigeria.
The Chinese Embassy says these engagements are part of an age-old diplomatic tradition for China's top leaders to pay official visits to African countries as part of their first overseas visits.