Shipment of arms normal trade: FM

China said yesterday a shipment of weaponry headed for Zimbabwe was part of normal arms trading between the two countries and unrelated to the African nation's recent domestic developments.

The ship, Anyuejiang, which was bound for Zimbabwe laden with Chinese weapons, left Durban harbor in South Africa for Mozambique last Friday after giving up the original plan to unload there due to Zimbabwe's inability to receive the goods.

"The arms shipment by Anyuejiang was perfectly normal trade in military goods between China and Zimbabwe," Foreign Ministry Spokeswomen Jiang Yu said in Beijing yesterday.