There is a small community of Chinese people in Malawi made up largely of entrepreneurs and merchants running an estimated 140 businesses across Malawi in 2012.
History
The number of Chinese owned businesses, restaurants, and shops grew when Malawi embarked on official diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 2007.
Protests demanding a ban on Chinese merchants in the northern city of
Karonga
Karonga is a township in the Karonga District in Northern Region of Malawi. Located on the western shore of Lake Nyasa, it was established as a slaving centre sometime before 1877. As of 2018 estimates, Karonga has a population of 61,609.
His ...
led by a local business woman in 2012 spread throughout the country.
The government in response passed a law with Chinese merchants in mind that prohibited foreign traders from operating in small towns and rural areas, limiting Chinese businesses to the 4 major cities of
Blantyre
Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...
,
Lilongwe
Lilongwe (, , ) is the capital and most populated city of the African country of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020 that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in th ...
,
Zomba,
Mzuzu.
[
]
Anti-Chinese violence
A fear of ethnically directed violence is a part of life for Chinese business people with rumors often circulating of planned attacks against Chinese.[ This unstable climate has caused Chinese business owners to withdraw from public life, staffing their shops with local employees while infrequently visiting to restock.][ The Chinese community often seeks shelter in the capital of Lilongwe when rumors of attacks circulate.][
Local civil rights groups, Centre for Development of People and the Centre for Human Rights Rehabilitation, were critical of the ban on Chinese merchants, calling the law xenophobic and fearing it would encourage attacks on the Chinese.][
]
References
{{Overseas Chinese
Ethnic groups in Malawi
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...