China, who is world's leading manufacturer of chemical fertilizers, cement and steel, has failed to satisfy Zimbabwe's health minister, as the Chinese contraceptives are too small for its men.
According to reports, these male contraceptive or condoms are made in China and exported to the African nation. But the Minister David Parirenyatwa said during an event in the capital Harare that the southern African region has the highest rate of HIV victims, with an estimated 13.5 percent of its adult population. So the Health Ministry has started promoting the use of condoms.
Now, the 67-year-old minister said, "Youths now have a particular condom that they like, but we don't manufacture them. We import condoms from China and some men complain they are too small."
Parirenyatwa also mentioned that since the health of the nation is their main priority, the country will look for manufacturing the male contraceptives rather than buying it from others.
On the other hand, the chief executive of the condom manufacturer Beijing Daxiang and His Friends Technology Co., Zhao Chuan told South China Morning Post that the company has plans to make contraceptives in different sizes.
He said that based on different demands from "customers such as in Zimbabwe, Daxiang, as a Chinese manufacturer, has the ability and the obligation to make a contribution, so we have started to do some surveys on users' data in the region to make preparations for future products with different sizes."
He said the preference for condoms differs around the world. Zhao mentioned that while Chinese men like thinner contraceptives and do not bother about the size, North American customers like soft condoms.
According to reports by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China is one of the world's largest male contraceptive producers and has almost 300 condom manufacturers, producing almost three billion of contraceptives each year.
However, it doesn't change the fact that China's Guangzhou Daming Lianhe has broken the Guinness World Record in December 2013, after producing a condom with a thickness of 0.036mm. A Chinese court has found a Japanese male contraceptive making company guilty of claiming that their condoms were the thinnest in the world.
