(Mkwichi Primary School, Lilongwe, 9 September 2016)

Hon. Aggrey Massi, M.P., Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security,

Mr. Charles Msosa, Secretary for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology,

The ward Councillor Dr. Bikoko,

Local leaders present,

Parents, teachers and students,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning. It is my great pleasure to be here with all of you in this beautiful school. It is the first time for me to visit this school, and I am quite impressed by its splendid outlook and good quality.

The Mkwichi Primary School starts its construction on October 2012 with the grant of 1.5 Million US Dollars from Chinese Government, and successfully completed its work on November 2013. The project includes eight classrooms, one small library, three teacher's offices, one football pitch and one basketball court. Now, the Mkwichi Primary School has served as a centre for primary education in this area, which can accommodate more than 500 students.

China has always been committed to the development of Malawi since the establishment of diplomatic ties between our two countries eight years ago. The day before yesterday, we just officially handed over the Bingu National Stadium to the Malawian side, which marks that the 'Five Major Projects' including Parliament Buiding, Karonga- Chitipa Road, Malawi University of Science and technology and Bingu International Conference Centre have all been completed and handed over to Malawian side. These projects are closely related to people's livelihood, and have changed the horizon of Malawi, in particular the city of Lilongwe.

In the field of education, we provide plenty of Chinese Government Scholarship and training opportunities for our Malawian friends. Last week, we just send off about 100 Chinese Government Scholarship winners to China, the travel expenses, tuition fees and allowance are all covered by China side. The total number of scholarship recipients, since the diplomatic relations between China and Malawi, has reached 444. Every year, we also send more than 600 Malawians to China for training courses, with all the expenses covered by Chinese Government.

Thirty years ago, China and Malawi are at the same stage of development. After 30 years of rapid development, China has become the second largest economy in the world. You are the future of Malawi, I hope you can study hard and make contribution to the development of Malawi.

I also heard that the some Chinese teachers are going to teach Mandarin in your school next week. Language is the bridge of cultural communication. By learning Chinese, you can have a better understanding of Chinese culture. I hope you can have the chance to further your study in China and act as the envoy of friendship between our two countries.

To conclude my remarks, I want to assure you that this is just the beginning of our further cooperation, and the Chinese Embassy in Malawi will continue to render assistance to you within our capacity

Thank you.