China
Interview: China sets up example for Africans to create miracle through self-reliance
"Parents also wanted their children to be part of the global community and were ensuring that they not only learned Chinese languages, but also foreign ones, also. So many parents devote a lot of energy and resources so that their children can understand not only their language but others, with English being the main language," he said, adding that English teachers were coming from all over the world to teach in Chinese schools.
The Chinese community had also embraced foreigners and opened up the housing market and business opportunities for them. Chinese learning institutions had also been opened up for foreigners, showing that the Chinese did not have a socio-economic attitude against foreigners, Mutsvangwa said.
One of the things that impressed Mutsvangwa most was the speed at which China put up facilities for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
"I went to Beijing four years ago and people were still preparing for the Olympics and I thought to myself, will they be ready for the Olympics in 2008, because a lot of the things being talked about in preparation were still on the drawing board. Some things were happening, but suddenly within a very short period of time everything changed."
He said traffic congestion which made people make appointment for only two meetings in a day was soon a thing of the past as the roads were soon decongested.
"Here were some of the best brains in the world from many other countries working with the Chinese to plan a modern city, how to modernize a city which is 800 years old, keeping some of the old structures of Beijing but also looking into the future.