Trade

Trade relations took off in the 2000s with the amount of trade growing from $100m in 2000 to $2.8 billion in 2010. Among Chinese businesses are large enterprises in mining and infrastructure, but also small businesses. A family of Chinese chicken farmers who established a farm in Zambia was profiled for BBC News program From Our Correspondent: "It sounds extraordinary but these Chinese businessmen and women spotted an opportunity to make a bit of money raising chickens on small farms in Zambia. They upped sticks and travelled 11,000km (7,000miles) from their homes to do just that."

Mining

Zambia is a leading exporter of copper and Chinese investment in the mining sector has been considerable. Over $1 billion was invested in 2010 with the promise of $5 billion in additional investment. Labor tension between Chinese mine owners and Zambian workers has been rife. In February 2010 a Chinese mine manager was murdered by a Zambian worker.

A explosives factory at the site of a mine in Chambishi exploded in 2005, killing over 50. The incident raised the level of discontent in the region towards Chinese mining owners and in 2007, Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...

 on a 8 nation tour of Africa although scheduled to appear at the Chambishi copper mine canceled the trip when there was news of a planned protest by miners.

Politics

The September 2011 presidential election was dominated by the issue of Chinese investment and people arriving in Zambia. Michael Sata

Michael Sata

Michael Chilufya Sata is a Zambian politician who has been the fifth President of Zambia since 23 September 2011. He leads the Patriotic Front , a major political party in Zambia. Under President Frederick Chiluba, Sata was a minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multiparty...

 in the Zambian general election, 2006

Zambian general election, 2006

General elections were held in Zambia on 28 September 2006 to elect a President and National Assembly. The result was a victory for the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy, which won 75 of the 150 National Assembly seats and whose candidate, Levy Mwanawasa, won the presidential vote...

 as opposition presidential candidate had accused China of exploiting the country and turning it into a "dumping ground." Following his loss, in his stronghold of Lusaka, the capitol, rioting broke out against Chinese businesses.

Rail

The largest aid project ever undertaken by China was the TAZARA Railway built from 1970–1975, connecting the copper mines of Zambia to the seaport of Tanzania.

Banking

A Bank of China

Bank of China

Bank of China Limited is one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1912 by the Government of the Republic of China, to replace the Government Bank of Imperial China. It is the oldest bank in China...

branch in Lusaka allows account holders to deposit money in Yuan without having to go through foreign exchange, the first branch in Africa to offer such currency services.