Agriculturist and political commentator Sheunesu Mupepereki on Thursday applauded the Chinese government for continuing the economic support to Zimbabwe.

He told Xinhua that the Chinese donation of buses and information communication technology equipment to Zimbabwe's National Defense College this week was a reinforcement of a relation that has existed between Zimbabwe and China, dating back to the fight for independence before 1980.

Mupepereki said Chinese assistance has been a major pillar supporting Zimbabwe to stand after the country's independence in the face of the regime change and neo-colonial agenda of the West.

He said there were no strings attached to Chinese assistance.

Aside from donation, China emerged as top foreign investor in Zimbabwe last year.

Zimbabwe's foreign direct investment grew 19 percent to reach 450 million US dollars last year with China contributing "a lion's share" to the capital inflows, state newspaper Herald said Thursday, quoting Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Tapiwa Mashakada.

Chinese investment accounted for 78 percent of the foreign investment projects approved by Zimbabwe Investment Authority in 2012. The money mainly went to sectors like agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and infrastructure construction, statistics from the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe showed.

In 2012, China imported 585-million-US-dollar Zimbabwean goods, mainly tobacco, while in return exporting 430-million-US- dollar goods, resulting in a trade surplus of 155 million US dollars for Zimbabwe, Chinese customs figures showed.

"The simple argument by some people is that the Chinese are coming here to exploit our resources, but the truth is we are under threat from the enemies of yesterday, our former colonizers, " Mupepereki said.

"The West has imposed sanctions on us and the Chinese are here to assist us as they did when they supplied arms to us during our struggle for independence," he added.