The Mozambican and Chinese governments signed an agreement in Maputo on 4 May under which China is to grant US$16 million for the purchase of 80 buses and the opening of 200 boreholes for drinking water.
The agreement was signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Nyeleti Mondlane and the Chinese ambassador Sun Jian.
The money will be used to build a China-Mozambique Cultural Centre in Maputo. The Chinese government has also promised to donate 10,000 tonnes of grain to Mozambique to boost the country's food security, threatened by the drought that has hit the southern and central provinces.
A condition of the agreement is that the buses must be purchased from Matchedje Motors, the Chinese financed factory in the southern city of Matola which is the only vehicle assembly plant in Mozambique.
Su Jian took the opportunity to announce that this month Chinese companies will begin ten construction jobs in Mozambique - these include a professional training school in Nampula, the paediatric building in Beira Central Hospital, and a residential block for Mozambican doctors in Maputo.
Su made it clear that China is not worried by the enormous expansion of Mozambique's public debt in recent years. "Mozambique is a very attractive country for us, and it has attracted many Chinese business people", he said. "If the economy is not doing well, that's not what we find".
