Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China appreciates Malawi's adherence to the one-China policy, calling the African country a "sincere and reliable" development partner of China. 

In a telephone conversation with Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, President Xi hailed the rapid and healthy development of China-Malawi relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in December 2007. Political mutual trust between the two countries has been strengthened constantly, Xi said, adding that China and Malawi understand and support each other in international affairs. 

Chakwera stressed that Malawi firmly adheres to the one-China policy, adding that Malawi opposes the interference in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of human rights and the politicization of COVID-19 origins tracing. 

Xi said China is willing to enhance cooperation with Malawi in fighting COVID-19 and he expressed hope vaccines provided by China will help Malawi defeat the pandemic. 

China will strive to provide 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world throughout this year and offer $100 million to COVAX, the global vaccine distribution scheme, Xi announced in a written message to the first meeting of the international forum on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation earlier this month. The $100 million to COVAX will mainly go to the distribution of vaccines to developing countries, he said. 

Xi told Chakwera that China supports Malawi's efforts to find a development path suited to its own national conditions and stands ready to offer Malawi more support and assistance within its capacity for the country's economic and social development. 

China is willing to enhance the alignment of development strategies with Malawi and deepen bilateral cooperation in areas such as poverty reduction, infrastructure, agriculture and health, Xi said. 

China also stands ready to expand cooperation with Malawi in international and regional affairs and jointly safeguard the common interests of developing countries and international fairness and justice, he added. 

Chakwera congratulated China on its "historic achievements" in eradicating absolute poverty and thanked China for its help in Malawi's fight against COVID-19. 

Chinese investment and bilateral cooperation have played an important role in Malawi's economic and social development, he said, looking forward to more practical cooperation between the two sides in infrastructure and development. 

Malawi is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with China in international and regional affairs, he said.