Harare - China has told the Zimbabwean coalition government not to expect further loans from Beijing until it pays its existing debts, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara was quoted as saying Sunday.

Mutambara, who heads his own faction of the junior coalition partner, the Movement for Democratic Change, told a local newspaper that Chinese President Hu Jintao considers Beijing and Zimbabwe as 'business partners' and not 'friends'.

Mutambara said in The Zimbabwean that he had met Hu on the fringes of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier in February.

The paper said that Harare owes Beijing an undisclosed amount in unpaid loans given to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company.

'The Chinese have said 'We'll not condemn you publicly but we'll not give you cash'. Unless we do the right thing the Chinese will not work with us,' Mutambara said.

Zimbabweab President Robert Mugabe has hailed relations with Beijing as a foil to Harare's poor links with most Western nations.