Interview: FOCAC theme aligns well with Malawi's development vision, says Malawian president

BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The theme of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) aligns very well with the Malawian vision to become a self-reliant, industrialized and upper-middle-income country, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has said.

To achieve the vision, Malawi "cannot do it without joining hands with others. China is a great example of a partner that gives you a hand, so you can achieve your own dreams," Chakwera, who is in Beijing for the summit, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday.

For Malawi, the pursuit of modernization, digitalization, as well as mechanization and commercialization in the agriculture sector "is not an option," but rather "what we've got to do," said Chakwera.

The 2024 summit of the FOCAC is currently being held in Beijing with the theme "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future."

During a meeting on Tuesday, Chakwera and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.

Noting that Malawi and China have established strong links between governments, he hoped for closer interactions at the people-to-people and business-to-business levels to further facilitate bilateral cooperation in the agriculture, tourism and mining sectors, among others.

"We're just looking at how to operationalize some of these concepts that we're talking about," he told Xinhua after meeting representatives from Chinese enterprises.

In December 2022, China granted zero-tariff treatment to 98 percent of taxable items from 10 countries, including Malawi. Chakwera said that Malawian producers, agriculture experts and trade experts are working to benefit from this.

For Chakwera, it was a joy to speak at the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo held last year in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. "This is a basis upon which we look forward to more involvement," he said.

Malawi's 200 Kwacha banknote, which features a picture of the country's parliament building built with Chinese assistance, is "a recognition of our special relationship with China," he said.

While speaking highly of China's pursuit of modernization, Chakwera said that there are "different paths you can pursue to achieve your goals."

It is best to encourage countries to find their own development trajectory that they want to pursue and help them so that they can run by themselves, he said.

"This is one reason I appreciate our relationship with China," Chakwera said, noting that China helps Malawi in its own "setting" and always cares about how to best help Malawi achieve its vision.