H.E. Ambassador Pan Hejun Giving a Speech

Mr. Necton Mhura, Deputy Chief Secretary to the Government,

Rev. Dr. Billy Gama, Presidential Advisor on Religious Affairs,

All Religious Leaders Present here,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honor and privilege to attend the workshop today. First of all, I wish to thank Rev. Dr. Billy Gama for his kind invitation, which gives me this opportunity to meet religious leaders of Malawi.

Since I arrived in Malawi nine months ago, Malawi has given me an impression as a dynamic country. Under the great leadership of H.E. President Mutharika, Malawi is on the path of fast development. The food security has been achieved. The economy has maintained a rapid growth rate. Through the implementation of Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, new roads, hospitals, schools and teacher training colleges have been constructed all over the country. Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi has also been changing a lot, with the emerging of many new facilities.

After staying here for a period of time and knowing more about Malawi, another impression on me is that religions and religious leaders have been playing a vital role in national development of Malawi. Many schools and hospitals were built by religious organizations. Religious leaders are also actively involved in promoting social justice, democracy and people’s welfare.

As a development partner, we share the same vision and the objective of the religious leaders of Malawi, which is to help this country achieve national development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over three years ago, H.E. President Mutharika made the decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Since then, our bilateral relations have developed rapidly and have yielded fruitful results. China has become an important development partner of Malawi.

In the sector of democratic governance, the Parliament Building funded by the Chinese Government was completed and handed over to Malawian side last May. The Building is now a symbol of China’s support to Malawi’s development of democracy.

In the infrastructure sector, the Karonga-Chitipa Road in the north and the International Conference Center and Five Start Hotel in Lilongwe will be completed by the end of this year.

In the education sector, H.E. President Mutharika laid the foundation stone for the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) last month. After 20 months, Malawi will have a new first-class university. Besides MUST, China is building a secondary school and will build a primary school in Malawi. China has also provided over 130 Chinese Government Scholarships to Malawi, including this year’s 33 Scholarships.

In the agricultural sector, we will build an Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Malawi, to encourage local famers to apply new and practical technology. The venue for the Center has been identified, and the construction work will be started very soon. We also actively support Chinese companies to invest in the agricultural sector of Malawi. The Malawi Cotton Company, which is supported by the China-Africa Development Fund, has done a lot of work in the cotton farming and processing in Malawi.

In the health sector, currently, there are 16 Chinese doctors working in Kamuzu Central Hospital and Mzuzu Central Hospital respectively. We are also planning to donate a CT machine to Malawi, so that people in the central and north region do not need to travel a long distance to Blantyre for a CT examination.

All these projects are aimed to improve the welfare of the Malawian people, and help Malawi achieve national development. In the days to come, the Chinese Embassy will continue to work together with religious leaders of Malawi and joint the efforts of Malawian Government and people to build a prosperous Malawi.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Three decades ago, China was a poor country, and people strived to get enough food. China adopted the policy of reform and opening up in 1978, and after thirty years’ development, China has become the second largest economy in the world, and people’s livelihood has been improved remarkably.

One of the lessons we learned in the past is that if a country wants to develop, stability is the prerequisite and the foundation. Without stability, there will be no development.

Nowadays, Chinese Government is promoting the building of a harmonious society. In this process, the religions and religious leaders are playing a very important role.

First, the freedom of religion must be guaranteed. China is a country with a great diversity of religious belief. The main religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism. According to statistics, there are over 100 million believers of various religions.

In China, citizens have the right to freely choose and express their religious beliefs. This right is protected by the Laws and the Constitution of China. The Article 36 of the Constitution stipulates that “Citizens of China enjoy freedom of religious belief, no state organ, public organizations, nor individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion, nor they may discriminate against citizens who believe in or not believe in any religion”.

The Chinese Government has created a favorable environment for religious believers. In China, there are more than 85,000 sites for religious activities, over 5500 religious organizations, and more than 110 religious schools training clerical personnel. Take Islam for example, in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region only, there are over 24, 300 mosques.

Second, all the religions should coexist in harmony. In China, all religions have equal status. There are no main religious conflicts in China. Both religious believers and non-believers respect each other.

Third, religions play a unique role to help the government in building a harmonious society. In the course of China’s long history, the religions in China have become part of the traditional Chinese thinking and culture. Various religions all advocate serving the society and promoting people’s well being, such as the Buddhist’s “honoring the country and benefiting the people, the Catholics and Protestant’s “Glorifying God and benefiting the people, the Taoist’s “Being benevolent, peaceful and harmonious, saving the world and benefiting the people”, and the Islam’s “Praying Allah to give great reward in this world and hereafter”.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Next month, at the invitation of the State Administration for Religious Affairs of China, Rev. Dr. Billy Gama will lead a religious delegation to visit China. This is the first time for a religious delegation from Malawi to visit China. During the visit, they will meet the religious leader of China and visit various religious sites. I believe the cooperation between China and Malawi in the religious field will be enhanced by the visit.

After they come back to Malawi, they will have more to share with you on the religions in China and the role of religious leaders in China’s national development.

Thank you for your attention.