Banda seized victory with 40 percent of the vote in Thursday's poll, winning only about 35,000 ballots more than opposition leader Michael Sata.

Sata fared particularly well in Lusaka and the Copperbelt, home to most of Zambia's crucial mining industry, but also made inroads among rural voters who previously backed the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).

The capital and the copper-mining regions have benefited the most from recent economic gains under the late president Levy Mwanawasa, who died in August following a stroke.

Under Mwanawasa's government, Zambia posted average growth of 4.9 percent over the last seven years. During that time, Zambia also saw a boom in Chinese investment, especially in mining regions.

"They're areas that are heavily penetrated by Chinese investment, which in turn has generated nationalism and xenophobia that Sata has managed to exploit politically," said Laurence Caromba, of the Centre for International Political Studies in South Africa.

In the 2006 election campaign, Sata had vowed to run out Chinese investors and to recognise rival Taiwan instead of the government in Beijing.

His rhetoric has since been toned down, but last month he promised to force foreign companies to set aside 25 percent stakes for local investors.

Sehlare Makgetlaneng, of the Africa Institute of South Africa, said that Zambian workers and Chinese companies often have poor relations.

"China, in its expansion in the continent, is popular with some African leaders, but not with African workers or unions," he said. "At issue are how Chinese are treating Africans who are working for them."

Sata's gains in rural areas show that poor farmers are also growing frustrated with the ruling party, which has been in power since 1991, analysts said.

Sata had promised to bring better housing and jobs to poor Zambians, a call that resonated in a country where 51 percent of the 11.7 million people live on less than one dollar a day, according to the World Bank.

Recent economic gains have benefitted urban areas, where poverty has dropped by 30 percent, but rural areas have actually seen an increase in poverty, the bank says.

In his inauguration Sunday, Banda said that fighting poverty would top his agenda, saying: "Too many Zambians have been left behind."

But given his small margin of victory, Zambia's poor will watch closely to see if Banda follows through, said Lee Habasonda of the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes.

"He has to measure up to the pro-poor promises given by the opposition," Habasonda said. "If he doesn't, he faces an urban uprising against his government."

Banda has promised to follow the pro-growth policies that won Mwanawasa praise from Western donors.

Makgetlaneng said Banda will have to ensure that while attracting foreign investment, including from China, he finds ways of ensuring that companies do more to develop the country for the public good.

"He will be in a position to attract foreign investment into his country, and he will make it clear to foreign investors to develop the country," Makgetlaneng said.

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