On May 6, an international conference on Zimbabwe with the theme of "Consolidating the Democratization Process and Reinforcing Re-engagement with the Global Community" was held in Harare by the Sapes Trust, with over 150 participants from the government, thinktanks, NGOs and diplomatic corps. Chinese Ambassador Lin Lin gave a speech at the conference, sharing China's experience in developing special economic zones (SEZs).

Ambassador Lin introduced the successful establishment and the tremendous progress of Shenzhen and emphasized on three key elements of China's experience: Chinese leadership's strong commitment to the Reform and Opening-up Policy, generous preferential policies to attract FDI, as well as central and local governments' concrete support for investors and enterprises, providing reference for Zimbabwe to establish its own SEZs to recover the economy.

After the speech, Ambassador Lin answered questions from the audience about Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's ongoing visit to Africa, Zimbabwe's "Look East Policy", etc. The audience applauded Ambassador Lin's witty reponses.

On May 7, "The Herald", the largest newspaper in Zimbabwe reported on Ambassador Lin's speech.