By Michael Gwarisa
Zimbabwe imports about 88 percent of the medicines consumed in the country, while its pharmaceutical import bill has averaged roughly US$250 million a year. In 2025 alone, Zimbabwe imported pharmaceutical products worth about US$215 million. Yet China, despite being one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and medical-technology manufacturing powers, accounted for only about US$3.2 million of those imports.
Against this backdrop, China’s expanding zero-tariff trade initiative with Africa presents Zimbabwe with an opportunity to look beyond the traditional question of what it can import and consider how its growing economic relationship with China could help reduce dependence on imported medicines and build domestic pharmaceutical and medical-technology capacity.
The issue matters because Zimbabwe is already trying to address a major weakness in its health system. Government estimates show that local manufacturers currently supply only about 12 percent of medicines consumed in the country, leaving imports to meet roughly 88 percent of demand. Increasing domestic pharmaceutical production has therefore become an important part of efforts to make the health system more sustainable.
This dependence exposes Zimbabwe to more than medicine shortages. The country must contend with foreign currency pressures, international price fluctuations, transport costs and disruptions to global supply chains. Expanding production at home would not eliminate those vulnerabilities, but it could reduce them.
China’s zero-tariff initiative needs to be understood within that wider context. The policy is primarily designed to give African products greater access to the Chinese market. It does not mean that Chinese medicines entering Zimbabwe will automatically become cheaper, nor does it remove Zimbabwe’s own taxes, regulatory requirements, procurement costs or distribution expenses.
Its significance for Zimbabwe lies in the broader China-Africa economic relationship, which could provide opportunities for investment, technology transfer, manufacturing expertise and industrial partnerships.
For Zimbabwe, the more strategic opportunity is to use those relationships to strengthen domestic pharmaceutical and medical-technology capacity. Rather than relying mainly on imported finished medicines, the country could seek partnerships that help local manufacturers expand production, improve technology and develop the skills required to compete in a more sophisticated pharmaceutical industry.
China is particularly relevant because it has developed significant manufacturing capacity across the pharmaceutical and medical-technology sectors, including active pharmaceutical ingredients, generic medicines, medical equipment and laboratory technologies. That experience could be valuable to Zimbabwe as it tries to expand its own manufacturing base.
There is already a policy framework for greater cooperation in these areas. The 2025–2027 Beijing Action Plan under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation identifies pharmaceutical production, medical equipment, access to active pharmaceutical ingredients and investment in Africa’s pharmaceutical industry among areas for cooperation.
Zimbabwe could seek to translate that framework into practical partnerships. Chinese companies could invest alongside local pharmaceutical manufacturers, support technology and skills transfer, and help develop domestic capacity to produce essential medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients and medical consumables. Chinese medical-technology companies could also establish assembly, maintenance and training operations in Zimbabwe, allowing local engineers and technicians to develop expertise in the installation, servicing and repair of diagnostic and laboratory equipment.
The potential benefits would extend beyond medicines and equipment. Greater local production could create jobs, develop specialised technical skills, reduce pressure on foreign currency and make the health system less exposed to disruptions in international supply chains.
Zimbabwe’s Second National Development Strategy already targets an increase in locally produced medicines to at least 60 percent by 2030, alongside investment in modern production facilities, research and development, biotechnology and good manufacturing practices. It also identifies medical consumables such as gloves, syringes, reagents and personal protective equipment as areas where local production can be expanded.
China’s growing economic engagement with Africa could help Zimbabwe advance that ambition, but only if the country approaches the relationship with a clear industrial strategy. There is a risk that greater access to Chinese products could simply deepen dependence on imported medicines and equipment if the focus remains on buying finished products rather than building local capacity.
Attracting investment will also not be enough on its own. Zimbabwe needs a domestic policy environment that makes local manufacturing commercially viable. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have raised concerns about the cost of producing medicines locally, particularly when they must import raw materials and other inputs while finished medicines can enter the market under more favourable conditions.
Government therefore needs to create conditions that encourage production. This includes reviewing tariffs on pharmaceutical inputs, improving access to affordable finance, strengthening regulatory capacity, ensuring reliable electricity and water supplies, supporting research and development, and creating predictable procurement arrangements for locally manufactured medicines.
Government proposals around the Pharmaceutical Value Chain Policy and a pharmaceutical revolving fund could help address some of these constraints, but their impact will depend on implementation and whether they create an environment in which both local and international investors see manufacturing as a viable long-term proposition.
The potential market also extends beyond Zimbabwe. A stronger pharmaceutical industry could serve neighbouring countries through SADC and eventually take advantage of wider opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area. Zimbabwe could therefore develop an industry that not only replaces some of the medicines it currently imports, but also participates in regional supply chains and competes for markets across Africa.
China’s manufacturing experience could be particularly relevant in this regard. The opportunity is not to replicate China’s pharmaceutical industry overnight, but to connect Chinese technology, investment and manufacturing expertise with Zimbabwean skills and Africa’s growing demand for medicines and medical technologies.
Medical equipment presents a similar opportunity. Zimbabwe’s health system requires diagnostic machines, laboratory analysers, imaging equipment, surgical devices and other specialised technologies. Yet purchasing the equipment is only part of the challenge. Hospitals also need reliable maintenance, spare parts and technicians capable of operating and repairing increasingly sophisticated systems.
A partnership that combines equipment supply with local assembly, technical training, maintenance and skills transfer could deliver considerably more value than simply importing another shipment of machines. Over time, it could help create a domestic technical services industry capable of supporting hospitals in Zimbabwe and potentially serving other markets in the region.
That should be an important measure of Zimbabwe’s economic relationship with China. The value of the partnership should not be judged only by the volume of trade between the two countries, but also by what that relationship helps Zimbabwe produce, develop and retain.
For the health sector, success would mean greater pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, stronger research institutions, improved access to medical technology and a growing pool of Zimbabwean scientists, pharmacists, engineers and technicians with the skills to support the industry. It would also strengthen the country’s ability to withstand disruptions to international supply chains that can quickly become public health problems when essential medicines or equipment are unavailable.
China’s zero-tariff initiative provides an opportunity for Zimbabwe to have this broader conversation because trade policy and health policy are closely connected. For a country that imports most of the medicines it consumes, securing essential health products is not only a healthcare issue; it is also a question of economic resilience and national industrial capacity.
Zimbabwe therefore needs to approach its relationship with China with a broader objective than increasing imports. Its health, industrial and trade policies should work together to ensure that international partnerships help build productive capacity at home.
