China addresses Nam tax issues

Chinese ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming has encouraged his countrymen to respect Namibian laws and customs in an effort to protect the pleasant relationship Namibia and China enjoys. Yiming addressed a packed hall at the Chinese embassy at the launch of a lecture series held this week to educate the Chinese business community on the local tax system. At the same time, he encouraged the local tax system to not paint tax-complying, law-abiding Chinese citizens that were playing by the rules with one brush, that being non-compliance. According to Yiming, relations between the two countries rank highly and needed to be protected at all costs and improved even further. “Namibia is China's all-weather friend and the Namibia-China relationship is one of the priorities among China's African policies,” he said. “The two countries and two parties have a traditional relationship and both sides have the responsibility to safeguard our traditional relations and deepen our pragmatic cooperation.” He conceded that certain Chinese nationals were fingered in some unsavoury tax evasion, avoidance and money-laundering practices. “The issue of non-standard taxation exists in Namibia for a long time and some Chinese enterprises and individuals are actually involved,” said Yiming. Namibia, Yiming said, would get China's support because of its intolerance to law offenders. “China fully understands Namibia's efforts to solve the problems and firmly cooperates with Namibia in fighting against money-laundering and tax offences. “China will never tolerate law offenders,” Yiming said. Yiming said efforts would be made to ensure Chinese nationals residing in Namibia would become law-abiding with regards to their tax affairs but at the same time asked Namibian authorities to safeguard the interest of Chinese run-businesses that operated above board. “We will continue to promote education campaigns among Chinese citizens to raise their awareness to abide by the law. “At the same time, China hopes that the Namibian government could safeguard the legitimate rights interest of most Chinese enterprises and personnel that run their businesses legally,” he said. According to him, Namibia and China's relationship can further be strengthened and could become the model for other countries that have diplomatic and business ties to China. He implored officials on both sides of the spectrum to work towards that realisation, saying: “We should work harder to make the relations between China and Namibia a model among the relations between China and other southern African countries.” Following independence, Yiming said Chinese nationals had found favour in Namibia, reflected by the growth of their businesses here. According to him, there are now 70 Chinese enterprises and nearly 7 000 self-employed business people who had made their contribution towards the economy and the general well-being of ordinary citizens. This, he said, warranted the respect of the local authorities. Yiming also said it was possible for both parties to find an amicable solution to Namibia and China's strained relations in light of a high stakes money-laundering scandal in which several Chinese nationals, which include the friend of the president, Jack Huang, are implicated. “We must solve the problems in a constructive manner, we should look into the underlying causes of tax issues, strengthen face-to-face communication and establish smooth communication channels,” Yiming said. OGONE TLHAGE

China addresses Nam tax issues

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-02

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China addresses Nam tax issues

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-02

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