Ambassador dismisses views against China
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Malawi, Shi- Ting Wang, has dismissed negative perceptions that people have about his country.
The ambassador has instead highlighted some of the major projects the country has completed in Africa, some of which are the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway and the Nairobi- Mombasa Railway.
Shi-Ting was speaking in Lilongwe recently during the opening of a two-day International Seminar on China-Africa Cooperation and Africa’s Development
“China’s involvement with Africa is gaining more and more popularity. But some people are not happy with it. They
say we come here to loot natural resources. We are neo-colonisers. No, this is wrong. Of course, we need resources. But actually most exploitation rights of oil or mine are in the hands of the other countries, not China. China is a new-comer in this field,” Shi- Ting said.
He said none of the Chinese companies is doing mining right now in Malawi.
“Actually, Malawi has natural resources; for instance, the oil and gas reserves in Lake Malawi. Anyway, the exploiting licences are not given to Chinese companies; they were taken by companies from other countries. There is only one uranium mine in Malawi, which is also not operated by China,” Shi-Ting said.
Shi-Ting also, among others, dismissed assertions that Chinese companies do not employ Africans and that Chinese products are of low quality.
“China has become Africa’s largest trading partner and main investor. According to statistics, the annual China-Africa trade volume varies but is between $150 and $200 billion every year,” he said.
The ambassador also highlighted other strides that are being made to promote China-Africa relations, including 2015 Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
“More than 600 projects planned in the summit are either completed or underway. Funding for these projects amounts to over $108 billion,” he said
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