By Patience Longwe

Lilongwe, December 1, Mana: President  Dr  Lazarus Chakwera has hailed the Chinese Government for the development assistance that it renders to Malawi.

Speaking Sunday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during an engagement meeting with a delegation from China, Chakwera said with the Agriculture, Tourism and Mining (ATM) strategy there is expectation that Malawi government will continue to get assistance from the people of China.

“I am extremely grateful for the assistance and we are looking forward for the government of China continued assistance,” he said.

The people of the Republic of China have donated to the Republic of Malawi 500 solar panels worth US$200,000.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nancy Tembo, underscored the importance of the engagement saying  it will ensure that goods exported to China have Chinese standards.

“The objective of this meeting is to strengthen bilateral relation between Malawi and the people of the Republic of China. This will, going forward, ensure that Chinese standards and Malawi standards are synchronized when exporting goods to China,” she said.

She hailed the donation of the solar panels saying they will be useful in the rainy season since they will be placed in schools, hospitals or clinics which will help in time of power cuts and outages.

On Monday the Chinese team is expected to engage the Malawi Bureau of Standards, where a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation and ensure that standards in export between the two countries are met, will be signed.