China's President Xi Jinping has hailed Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe - a pariah in the West - as a renowned African liberation leader and an "old friend" of the Chinese people.
The former guerilla turned Africa's longest-ruling leader, now 90, was on his 13th trip to China, seeking more Chinese investment in his nation's stagnant economy.
"The traditional friendship between China and Zimbabwe was forged in the glorious years when we stood shoulder to shoulder against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony," Xi told Mugabe - who is subject to sanctions by the US and European Union - at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
"The Chinese people value friendship and we will never forget those good friends and good brothers who have shown mutual understanding and support vis-a-vis China and who have come through thick and thin with us."
The comments by the head of the world's second-largest economy were unusually effusive compared to the usual Chinese diplomatic formality.
He also called the Zimbabwean president a "renowned leader of the African national liberation movement" and "an old friend of the Chinese people whom we respect very much".
Mugabe said he felt "very much at home", thanking Xi for the invitation which reminded him of the past and "brings our past to the present".
Zimbabwe's relations with China and the Chinese Communist Party date back to the liberation struggle of the 1970s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerilla leaders.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan greeted Mugabe and his wife Grace - dressed in a vivid yellow and brown African-style outfit - with full military honours, with a band playing the two countries' national anthems as a 21-gun salute was fired and the two presidents inspected a military honour guard.
The two leaders watched as officials signed nine agreements, including some on loans and food donations, but no values were given.
Zhang Ming, vice foreign minister for African affairs, said Xi and Mugabe stressed expanding and improving relations and also discussed broader African and international issues.
"Economically the two sides should continue to seek mutual benefit and common development and be good partners in this regard," Zhang told reporters.
Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, his more than three decades in power starting amid optimism but eventually characterised by corruption and mismanagement leading to hyperinflation and enduring economic crisis, along with brutal crackdowns against political opposition.
In the face of Western opprobrium he adopted a "look east" policy, forging new ties and buttressing existing ones with east Asian countries including China.
There was a partial economic recovery during a power-sharing agreement with the Movement for Democratic Change, which ended last year when Mugabe's Zanu-PF party won elections which the opposition says were rigged.
But independent analysts estimate that unemployment in what was once known as the breadbasket of Africa still stands at 80 per cent.
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