MOFCOM provides RMB 675.8 million grant — via ETCA — for Parliament Building Construction Project (Linked to Record ID #72821)

Project narrative

On December 6, 2017, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Government of Zimbabwe signed a RMB 300 million grant agreement for the Parliament Building Construction Project. This RMB 300 million of grant funding was drawn down from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) signed on December 1, 2015 by the Chinese Government and the Government of Zimbabwe, which committed RMB 400 million for several projects (see Record ID#72821). This grant commitment followed a pledge to finance the construction of the building that President Xi Jinping's made during his visit to Zimbabwe in 2015, as well as feasibility studies for the Parliament Building Construction Project that were carried out in 2015 by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Company Limited. The Chinese Government eventually increased the size of its grant commitment for the Parliament Building Construction Project to RMB 675,860,000. The Parliament Building Construction Project involved the construction of a new parliament building (‘Parliament House’) that is located in the Hampden Hill area of Harare. The total construction area is 33,000 square meters, and the originally expected duration of project implementation was 32 months. The project, which comprises four floors on the Parliament side and an adjacent six-storey office building, encompasses a Chamber House, containing the 350-seat National Assembly and 100-seat Senate. A 108-seat gallery overlooks the National Assembly, while an 84-seat gallery overlooks the Senate. There are also 24 interpreters' rooms for both the National Assembly and the Senate; 12 for each House, which are linked to the state-of-the-art public address system. China SIPPR Engineering Group was the contractor responsible for project design. Shanghai Construction Engineering Corporation (上海建工集团股份有限公司) and China National Machinery Industry Corporation were the contractors responsible for implementation. The designs for the new parliament building were completed and approved in October 2017. Construction began on September 28, 2018. Then, on November 30, 2018, a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place. The project was originally scheduled to be completed and put into use on March 27, 2021. However, the building was ultimately completed on May 27, 2022, leaving smaller enabling works such as parking bays and a permanent water tank remaining. A project handover ceremony took place on October 26, 2023. Then, President Mnangagwa officially inaugurated the new building when he delivered the State of the Nation Address on November 23, 2022.