China and Zambia signed a mining agreement and a deal to set up a joint economic zone Thursday, as the presidents of the two nations agreed to expand economic and trade ties.
In total five agreements were signed after President Hu Jintao held talks with his Zambian counterpart Rupiah Banda, who is on a nine-day visit to China, state media said.
"We must push forward new cooperative projects in a step-by-step manner and jointly build the Zambia-China economic and trade cooperation zone," state television quoted Hu as telling Banda.
"We must continue to support the investment of Chinese enterprises in Zambia and expand bilateral cooperation in agriculture, mining and infrastructure projects."
The mining agreement was signed between China's Ministry of Land and Resources and Zambia's Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development.
No financial specifics or other details of any of the agreements were made public.
China has built up trade and economic ties with Africa in recent years, prompting critics to accuse it of taking a "neo-colonialist" attitude.
In November last year, at a meeting of China-Africa leaders in Egypt, Beijing pledged 10 billion dollars in concessional loans to African countries.
In June, the China Nonferrous Metals Company purchased a Zambian copper mine for 50 million dollars and has announced plans to invest up to 400 million dollars in the nation's mining sector.
Copper is Zambia's major export earner and contributes more than half of the country's gross domestic product.
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