At one time, Gao Hucheng, Chinese vice-minister for commerce, after meeting with Mpofu claimed: "Chinese goods had been well received by Zimbabweans and that his government would continue to promote trade between the two countries as this had also improved the lives of people."
In October 1988, member of parliament Obert Mpofu accidentally received a check from a car company in Willowvale, an industrial area of Harare; the check had actually been intended for Alford Mpofu, a friend of Industry Minister Callistus Ndlovu.