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Blantyre finds sister city in China

Malawi has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the People’s Republic of China, an agreement that will see Blantyre becoming a sister city to China’s Namchang city.

Blantyre City Council (BCC) Mayor Noel Chalamanda and chairperson of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Zhou Guan, signed the MoU on Saturday.

Chalamanda and Guan signing the MOU
Chalamanda and Guan signing the MOU

Presiding over the ceremony, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kondwani Nankhumwa, expressed optimism that the partnership will promote cultural and commercial ties.

Nankhumwa assured the Chinese delegation that Malawi remains committed to seeing that her relationship with China continues to flourish for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.

“Malawi made an excellent decision in partnering with China few years ago as it stands to benefit a lot from the partnership.

“I would like to give an assurance here that Malawi will continue to support the one China policy because we believe it is through the policy that China has accelerated in economic development,” said Nankhumwa.

On his part, Chalamanda said Blantyre will learn a lot from Namchang City, lessons he noted will help BCC improve on service delivery.

He said plans were underway for a delegation from BCC to visit Namchang to appreciate various development initiatives the city is undertaking and “borrow a leaf from there.”

CPPCC Chairperson Zhou Guan thanked the government of Malawi for supporting the partnership between the two cities and for embracing the one China policy.

He said Namchang was looking forward to working with Blantyre in different aspects, including trade and infrastructure development.

China has supported Malawi in a number of ways, including infrastructure development through the construction of the Parliament building, Bingu National stadium, and the Karonga-Chitipa road, among others.

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