[1] On December 28, 2007, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced in Beijing that China and Malawi had established diplomatic relations.The Chinese ambassador to Malawi, Pan Hejun, assured everyone, "The relationship between Malawi and China is at all time high and we very much support reforms president Mrs. Banda is undertaking and I want to assure her and all Malawians of our continued financial support in all sectors of the economy."[3] In a speech given by Pan Hejun, he stated why China is interested in developing relations with Malawi.[4] From 2000 to 2012, there are approximately 21 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Malawi through various media reports.[5] These projects range from a $70 million grant to build the Karonga-Chitipa highway linking Malawi with neighbouring Zambia in 2008,[6] to an $80 million loan from the Export Import Bank of China to construct a university for science and technology in the district of Thyolo in 2011.