On March 26, 2008, the African country of Malawi opened an embassy in Beijing. Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi co-chaired the opening ceremony.

Mutharika said establishing diplomatic relations with China unveiled a new chapter for bilateral relations and is a decision fully supported by all Malawian people.

With the rapid economic and social development, China is playing an increasingly important role in the international arena, said Mutharika, expressing hope that Malawi will carry out cooperation with China in a wide range of areas including economy, trade, technological cooperation and poverty relief. Malawi's president reaffirmed his country's adherence to the one-China policy.

For the Chinese side, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that the establishment of diplomatic relations in last December ushered in a new era of bilateral ties and opened up broad prospects for bilateral cooperation in all areas. Yang said China attaches great importance to ties with Malawi and is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Malawi to push for healthy, stable development of bilateral relations.

China and Malawi officially established diplomatic ties on December 28, 2007. At the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Mutharika arrived in Beijing on March 24, 2008 for a weeklong state visit to China.