Zimbabwe has announced that it will make the Chinese yuan legal tender in the country after Beijing said that it will cancel\u00a0over R600 million of the country’s debt.<\/p>\n
While the yuan has been in use in the country for some time, it was never officially sanctioned or approved for public transactions.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe abandoned its currency – the Zim dollar – in 2009, after hyperinflation peaked around 500 billion percent.<\/p>\n
The country \u00a0went to using mainly US dollars, South African rands, and Botswana pula.<\/p>\n
The currency was officially scrapped after it\u00a0hit 35 quadrillion\u00a0(that\u2019s 35,000,000,000,000,000) Zim\u00a0dollars against a single US dollar.<\/p>\n
According to reports, making the yuan official, legal tender in the country will further Zimbabwe’s goals of tightening trade relations between it and China.<\/p>\n
It will be mainly used as a function of trade, the Zim finance minister said – while the country is still negotiating on the exact amount of debt to be written off.<\/p>\n
China is Zimbabwe\u2019s biggest trading partner following Zimbabwe\u2019s isolation by its former western trading partners over Harare\u2019s human rights record.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has adopted a “look East policy”, forging relations with Asian nations, which has lead to the signing of various agreements, including infrastructure upgrades and energy projects.<\/p>\n
Zim scraps currency after hitting Z$35,000,000,000,000,000 against the dollar<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Zim minister laughs as South African rand stumbles<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Top 10 countries doing business in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n