"We believe your country is a good candidate for our bank," it quoted China Development Bank chief Chen Yuan as saying. Zimbabwe launched a nine-month recovery programme in April.

Chen said his bank was considering a currency swap between the Zimbabwean dollar and the Chinese yuan to facilitate financial cooperation with the southern African nation, which is starved of foreign currency.

Zimbabwe is in the seventh year of an economic recession with inflation touching nearly 1,200 percent. More than 80 percent of the country's 13 million residents live below the poverty threshold, according to economic analysts.

Following sanctions and isolation by Western countries over allegations that President Robert Mugabe was stifling democracy, Zimbabwe has adopted a "Look East" policy, fostering close ties with Asia, particularly China, Malaysia and Singapore.

Zimbabwe has signed several agreements with China in recent years, including a deal that the Zimbabwean government says includes receiving 1,000 Chinese buses in return for a 75 percent share of the urban transport sector.

Last year, Zimbabwe's national airliner took delivery of two MA60 passenger planes bought from the Chinese state-owned AVIC aircraft manufacturer and received a third plane as a gift.

Zimbabwe blames the economic crisis on targeted sanctions imposed by western country while critics say the country's troubles are the result of economic mismanagement.

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