This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Over the years, the CPC has led China through profound transformation, from a country devastated by war to the world's second largest economy, while lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

The CPC has also maintained close exchanges with many political parties across Africa.

Among its long-standing partners is Zimbabwe's ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF.

What has sustained this relationship for decades? What lessons does ZANU-PF draw from China's development and governance? And how are the two parties working together today?

Farai Marapira, ZANU-PF's Director of Information and Publicity, shares his perspective with China Africa Talk.

China Africa Talk: This year marks the 105th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China. How do you assess the CPC's role in China's transformation over the past century? 

Farai Marapira: The history of China cannot be spoken about without the mention of the CPC. The CPC is the DNA of China. It is the strip and the movement of China. We see it was formed in 1921. We see from 1921 to 1949, it fought for the liberation of the Chinese people, both internally and externally, as the Second World War came. And even after the end of the Second World War, all the economic development of China has been courtesy of the strategies and the implementation of the CPC. And if one is to look at the state in which China was from 1949 when the CPC was firmly in charge, it was taking over a country that was coming from a state of war, a state of invasion, and a state of colonialism by other countries. So China was very debilitated, the poverty level are astronomical, but the CPC has managed to turn around. They have managed to achieve the eradication of absolute poverty.

China Africa Talk: ZANU-PF has maintained a longstanding relationship with the CPC. How would you characterize the significance of the ties today?

Farai Marapira: We cannot speak of ZANU-PF without mentioning the CPC. From its inception in 1963, and the inception of ZAPU in 1961, there have been relations with the CPC. Our independence journey is courtesy by and large, also to the efforts of the CPC. We find that our President was trained in China, one of the first cadres to go for training. Most of our military training for independence was from China. Our ideological footprint was based also on the Chinese concept. We find that the concept of our people being the water and our combatants being the fish was adopted from the CPC. We have adopted also so many strategies as we have continued our interaction. You will find that the goals and aspirations of the CPC dovetail with the goals and the aspirations of ZANU-PF.

China Africa Talk: What lessons from China's development journey have been particularly relevant for ZANU-PF?

Farai Marapira: As a country coming from a colonial past and sanctions, we have noted that we also can do well by adopting some of the concepts used by the CPC in the advancement of their people. We noticed that from 1949, the CPC was focusing on an agrarian revolution, ensuring investment in the intellectual capacity of their people, their human capital base. So these are some of the things that we are focusing on. And we've also noted that they have also focused on infrastructural development, ensuring that there is a lesser cost of transportation of goods and ensuring that there is a better service in general. And this is also something that we have been achieving under the leadership of President Mnangagwa. We have been working on our own roads. We are now working on our rail, to ensure that we have a seamless infrastructural setup. We have also noted that the CPC has been a global leader in the issue of technology, ensuring that these are great strides happening in technology all care for the betterment of their people and for the ease of the life of their citizens. And this is also one other lesson that we get from the CPC. I can mention the issue of the structural strength of the CPC as a party, the discipline, ensuring there is regular training, so that the CPC becomes the core of the development of the country. And this is something that we are integrating also as ZANU-PF here, ensuring that there is solid discipline, and there is always technical output of those of us that serve within the party.

China Africa Talk: From your perspective, what are the key factors behind China's governance achievements?

Farai Marapira: The Chinese, under the CPC, have been, notably, very strong on the issue of corruption. They have set a world standard arguably, by ensuring that there is no bird too high, or any creature too small to be punished for corruption. So these are some of the factors and also to ensure that there is transparency. The advent of technology has ensured that there is easier asset-monitoring. So there is a lot of transparency in the way China is running under the leadership of the CPC. So we found that these are the hallmarks of creating a society that has trust within its leaders, a society that has trusted in its governance systems. China is as self- reliant as possible. So we've also seen a lot of knowledge transfer from China to us, to also ensure that our engineers and technical people also develop and are able to provide a lot of services internally within Zimbabwe as a country.

China Africa Talk: Under the leadership of the CPC, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. China has also become the world's second largest economy. What do you see as the most important driver of this success?

Farai Marapira: Before we look at the technological and other aspects, what builds a country's character, What the CPC did from 1949, one of their first things as they develop their agricultural sector was to invest in the human capital. So the achievements of China are courtesy of the CPC's wisdom in ensuring that they set development structures that are solid, that dovetail into the other. An example was the sanctions on chips. But now we see that China is now one of the world's leading chip manufacturers. Because of their investment in their human capital, they are now able to circumvent any challenge that comes their way. They're able to not only navigate, but become leaders in the race of any technological advancement. So we find that these are the lessons that we need to take. And we have adopted this into our education system, where we are now also encouraging our students not to follow that colonial education system, but we have restructured our education system under our President Mnangagwa to ensure that we now have an education system that develops the intellect, develop skills. This is also something that is a parallel between us and the CPC.

China Africa Talk: China and Africa are both members of the Global South. What role can they play together in promoting development, and reforming global governance, especially considering that Zimbabwe has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council? 

Farai Marapira: I think through our engagement, over the years, we share the same world view of non-interference. Our foreign policy is essentially similar. Our president has said Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none. We find that China speaks the same language. So these interactions create a unified foreign policy approach. As Zimbabwe becomes a member of the Security Council, this also creates a platform through which our shared ideals, our shared values can have another added voice for that period within the Security Council. We continue to push forward for the ideals which we hold value together. We also continue to push for a world, which we both envision as two countries.