Samuel Dalitso Kawale, agriculture minister of the Republic of Malawi, along with Allan Joseph Chintedza, Malawian ambassador to China, and their entourage visited Yueyang on March 14, 2023. During their visit, they conducted an inspection of Chenglingji New Port Area and held discussions on trade cooperation. Li Zuofeng, chairman and secretary of the CPC Leadership Group of the CPPCC Yueyang Municipal Committee, and Dai Zhiguang, deputy director of the Office of Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, accompanied them on the inspection tour.

The Malawian guests visited the Yueyang Guansheng Investment and Development Co., Ltd. and learned about its operating status and trade with African countries. The two sides exchanged ideas on potential economic and trade cooperation, covering topics including capital security, land supply, tax incentives, cooperation models, barter trade and other related aspects.

Minister Kawale said that Malawi is a very safe country in Africa and the government is committed to ensuring the security of funds for partners and foreign investors. He also stated that a series of tax exemptions and preferential policies will be implemented in future cooperation to promote mutual benefit and achieve win-win results.

Chenglingji New Port Area is a "bridgehead" for Hunan Province to enter global market and deepen opening up. The Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone Yueyang Area, a core part of the new port, is an important carrier and platform of the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation. In recent years, it has actively served the national strategy and developed trade with Africa. It boasts many advanced resources to undertake trade with African countries, with plentiful of opening up platforms and complete industrial chains.

Chenglingji Comprehensive Bonded Zone is an important window for Hunan to do business with Africa, with the annual trade value exceeding 2 billion yuan. It has carried out import business of African timber, rubber, and other products for many years. In particular, Yueyang Guansheng Investment and Development Co., Ltd., a state-owned enterprise in the region and a key foreign trade supply chain demonstration enterprise in Hunan Province, has maintained close foreign trade exchanges with Africa. It has continued to increase the trade volume of rubber, timber, cashew nuts and other products; build primary processing plants for agricultural products in Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania, and other African countries; and, start supporting platform construction such as "market procurement + African overseas warehouses".

The Malawian guests thanked Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone Yueyang Area for actively carrying out trade with Africa and promoting the economic development of African countries. They looked forward to establishing more economic and trade partnership with Yueyang.