The inauguration ceremony of the Consulate General of the Republic of Malawi in Changsha was held on the afternoon of June 29, 2023. Lazarus Chakwera, president of the Republic of Malawi, and Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, attended the inauguration ceremony and unveiled the Consulate General plate. 

The inauguration ceremony of the Consulate General of the Republic of Malawi in Changsha took place on the afternoon of June 29, 2023. Lazarus Chakwera, president of the Republic of Malawi, and Shen Xiaoming, secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, unveiled the Consulate General plate. 

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera delivered a speech.

President Lazarus Chakwera expressed that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malawi and China, under the guidance of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and the China-Africa Cooperation 2035 Vision, the two sides have maintained a strong and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship. They have witnessed numerous milestone cooperation in areas such as infrastructure construction, agriculture, trade, investment, and humanitarian assistance. Hunan holds a leading position in such industries as biotechnology, food processing, and engineering machinery in China and even in the world.

The Malawian side believes that establishing a consulate general in Hunan will contribute to further consolidating bilateral friendship and enhancing the quality of cooperation. The opening of the Consulate General of the Republic of Malawi in Changsha provides a valuable opportunity for the Malawian government to learn from Hunan's excellent development experience and advance Malawi's 2063 Vision. Malawi will seize this opportunity to explore more approaches to mutually beneficial cooperation and work towards the realization of self-reliant development and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.

Secretary Shen Xiaoming made a speech.

Shen Xiaoming, on behalf of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and the Hunan Provincial People's Government, extended congratulations on the opening of the Consulate General of the Republic of Malawi in Changsha. He stated that Hunan is the hometown of Chairman Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, and has established friendly and cooperative relations of mutual assistance and common progress with many African countries, including Malawi. In recent years, Hunan has been chosen as the location of such national-level platforms as the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation. They have contributed to closer exchanges and cooperation between Hunan and Malawi.

Currently, Hunan is fully implementing President Xi Jinping's important speeches and instructions on Hunan Province, actively serving China's strategy of opening up to the outside world, and striving to develop Hunan into a new hub for economic and trade cooperation with African countries. Shen hoped to take the opening of the Consulate General of the Republic of Malawi in Changsha and the hosting of the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo as important opportunities and new starting points. Within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, it is hoped to further promote exchanges and cooperation between Hunan and Malawi to a higher level with wider coverage, and contribute to the construction of a China-Africa community with a shared future.

Hunan will provide convenience and assistance for the operation of the consulate general, and do its best to provide various services.

The inauguration ceremony.

Allan Joseph Chintedza, Malawian ambassador to China, presided over the ceremony. Wu Peng, director-general of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, and Hunan provincial leaders including Li Dianxun, Wu Guiying, and Sui Zhongcheng attended.

All photos above were taken by Liu Shangwen.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn