This article discusses the China model in the context of Zimbabwe's socioeconomic and political trajectory in the past two decades. It shares perspectives on why and how Sino-Zimbabwe economic relations have failed to produce the desired outcomes. This has been largely influenced by the policy's role as more a political posturing to suit regime interests in the face of international isolation rather than a strategic deployment of the China model. I conclude by giving perspectives on the implications of China's largely self-interested model of economic engagement with Africa under the new Belt and Road Initiative on the long-term economic development in Zimbabwe and Africa at large. In the absence of the necessary factors and guiding philosophy, in particular within the public sector management domain, it is highly improbable that the emergence of China as a development partner under the so-called "Beijing Consensus" will lead to a replication of its success in Zimbabwe and other African countries of the same disposition.