Malawian president arrives in Beijing for FOCAC summit

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera arrived in Beijing on Monday to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which will be held in the Chinese capital from September 4 to 6.

The president's plane landed at the Beijing Capital International Airport at around 15:20.

Chakwera attended the opening ceremony of the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in China in June last year. Malawi, located in southeastern Africa, is an agricultural country, with 86 percent of its population engaged in agriculture.

The country and China enjoy a strategic partnership, and Chakwera firmly supports the one-China principle and supports China’s Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative.

Malawi established diplomatic relations with China in 2007. The parliamentary building of Malawi, built with China's assistance and completed in only 15 months, is one of the five major projects for the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries. Now the pattern of the parliament building has been printed on the banknote of 200 Malawian kwachas.

The upcoming FOCAC summit will be held under the theme of "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future."

Many African leaders, including Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, will lead delegations to the summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend as a special guest, and relevant international and regional organizations will participate as observers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the summit’s opening ceremony on September 5.

Following the 2006 FOCAC Beijing Summit, the 2015 FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, and the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit, the upcoming summit will be another happy reunion for the friendly family of China and Africa. It will also be the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years.

Malawian president arrives in Beijing for FOCAC summit

China saw nearly 13.1 million inbound and outbound trips being made during the country's seven-day National Day holiday rush which ended Monday, according to National Immigration Administration (NIA).

Data from the NIA showed that border inspection agencies across China facilitated a total of 13.098 million inbound and outbound trips, averaging 1.871 million per day, a 25.8 percent increase compared to the same period of last year.

Among the total trips, residents from the  mainland made 7.589 million inbound and outbound trips, up 33.2 percent from from the same period in 2023.

Meanwhile, around 4.5 million entry and exit trips were made by residents from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,  the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Taiwan region,  a 13.2 percent year-on-year increase.

A total of 1.014 million trips were made by foreigners, a 37.2 percent rise from the same period of last year.

The NIA noted that border ports nationwide had taken active measures to forecast and control entry-exit traffic, operate sufficient checkpoints for travelers and effectively mitigate the impact of extreme weather on the customs clearance processes.

China handles nearly 13.1 mln entry, exit trips during National Day holiday