By AFP

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China, a key ally of Zimbabwe, has endorsed the country's elections results and suggested that the international community needs to show more support.

Beijing on Friday urged all sides to respect the outcome of the presidential election in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared winner with 50.8 per cent of the vote.

The narrow margin is just enough to avoid a run-off against opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who dismissed what he called "unverified fake results".

Opposition allegations of foul play had already sparked a deadly crackdown on protesters in the capital Harare on Wednesday when troops opened fire, killing six.

"As a friendly nation to Zimbabwe, we call upon relevant parties to put the interest of the country and the people first and respect the choice made by the Zimbabwean people," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang said.

"We hope the international community will join us to make contributions to upholding the peace and development of Zimbabwe," Geng said.

China, a long-time trade partner of Zimbabwe, joins Tanzania, South Africa and Burundi in accepting the poll results.

President Mnangagwa, who took power after veteran leader Robert Mugabe was ousted in November last year, was chosen as the successor in the ruling ZANU-PF party.

President Xi Jinping hailed Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter in the 1960s, as an "old friend" of the Asian powerhouse when he visited Beijing in April.

Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided publicly taking sides during his ousting.