The outgoing Chinese envoy to Malawi Lin Songtian said Malawi is a country of abundant natural resources that can transform lives of its people but the marketing system is very poor.

“Most Malawians are poor not that they are not hardworking, it is the marketing problem that is pulling them down. The system needs to be revisited and this country will be transformed,” said Songtian.

The envoy, who is expected to leave the country on August 10, said people from the cities should not come in rural areas to buy produce and sell in the streets but process the produce and probably export to other countries.

He said Malawi can borrow a leaf from China which only a few years ago was ‘nowhere’ but it has managed to move to ‘somewhere’ and is emerging as the second largest economy after the USA.