The food is intended for villagers who lost their crops due to drought. The donations, in the form of rice and wheat, however will have to be swapped for the staple maize-meal, said the paper.

"China is ready to assist our good friend, good brother and good partner within our capacity at any time," said Liu Dan of the Chinese Embassy's political section.

Last month the UN launched an appeal for 488 million US for Zimbabwe's humanitarian needs, with the world body saying that food security was "a pressing issue" because drought affected six out of the country's 10 provinces earlier this year.

Food has been a perennial problem since President Robert Mugabe launched his controversial land reform programme in 2000, with a peak of 6 million locals - around half the population - needing food aid in 2002.

Zimbabwe's Agriculture Minister Joseph Made welcomed the Chinese donation, saying much of it would go to vulnerable children and the elderly in the affected areas.

"Globally we have food but there are a number of pockets that are under pressure. We want to make sure that we look after such communities," Made told the Herald.

Mugabe calls China his "all-weather friend," principally because of the Asian giant's unwillingness to criticise rights abuses committed in the Africa country over the last decade.

China has already invested in mining and agricultural projects in Zimbabwe and many small-scale Chinese businessmen run shops and brick-making concerns here. But there are growing allegations that Chinese bosses ill-treat and underpay local workers, making the Chinese popular with few outside of Mugabe's top officials.