Asia textiles 'close Zim shops'

Thousands of workers have been made redundant following the closure of the firms, swelling Zimbabwe's unemployment rate which already stands at 70% of the working population, the Financial Gazette reported.

"About 35 companies have gone into liquidation because of the influx of these cheap products from Asia and the Far East," Timothy Mukahlera, the chairman of a parliamentary committee on industry and international trade said.

"We cannot just allow goods into the country just because they are cheap," said Mukahlera, who is a member of parliament for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Asian manufacturers "have destroyed our industry and they must be stopped".

Cheap goods, including shoes, clothes and plastic toys mainly from China have flooded Zimbabwe's shops and flea markets in recent years.

The items are disparagingly referred to by locals as "zhing-zhong", a reference to their supposed poor quality.

President Robert Mugabe has encouraged a Look East policy for his country's struggling economy.

He says the country needs to explore new markets in Asia, such as China, Malaysia and Singapore over traditional Western ones.

Mugabe describes China as an "all weather friend" who stood by him and other nationalists during the country's war of independence from white minority rule.

China recently supplied Zimbabwe with jet fighters, military vehicles and short-range passenger planes. The Asian economic giant is keen to invest in Zimbabwe's mining, telecommunications and energy sectors. - Sapa-dpa