By Chikondi Chimala, in Beijing, China

Beijing, September 4: Mana: The governments of Malawi and China Tuesday signed a K50 billion financing agreement for the construction of the Judicial Complex in Lilongwe.

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Simplex Chithyola-Banda signed the agreement on behalf of the Malawi government and described the agreement as a fitting gift from the Chinese government to the people of Malawi.

The minister said the grant financing which is worth Chinese RMB 200 million translating to over USD 30 million (about K50 billion) will aid the transformation of Malawi.

In an interview with the Malawi News Agency (Mana), Chithyola-Banda said that Chinese President Xi JinPing informed President Dr Lazarus Chakwera about the grant financing of the Judicial Complex during their bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People held on Tuesday morning.

“I am happy that I have signed this agreement on behalf of the Malawi government that will see our judicially operate from modern buildings that will house quite many offices including courtrooms which is a positive development.”

“The onus to start work on the Judicial Complex that will be constructed in Lilongwe opposite the Parliament Building is now on my ministry which will work to fastback its operationalization with the stakeholders in China to make sure disbursements are done so that the work can start soon,” said Chithyola Banda.

The Finance Minister also said aside from changing the face of Lilongwe, the project will contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, as it will see several Malawians getting employed on the project and others supplying goods and services as well.

Chithyola-Banda said the commitment of the Chinese government to fund the project is a result of focused leadership that has prioritized building good relations with other countries as already seen by the designation of Malawi as a strategic partner by the Chinese Government

Signing on behalf of the Chinese government was Long Zhou who is the Chinese Ambassador to Malawi who said his government would see to it that the project runs its full course and that the relations between the two countries grow from strength to strength.

The signing agreement took place on the sidelines of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit which is being attended by President Dr Lazarus Chakwera and will among others focus on building relations and cooperation in supporting Africa’s industrialization, energy and trade as a priority, talent development, accelerating agricultural modernization, agenda 2063 of the African Union, modernization and mutual learning among civilizations, political, peace, and security cooperation as well as poverty reduction.

Focac was instituted in 2000 to foster relations between China and the 53 African nations and the African Union (AU) and is held every six years while the minister’s conference is held every three years.