500-drone light show held to celebrate China-Malawi people-to-people exchanges

LILONGWE, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) --A spectacular 500-drone light show by Chinese tech experts illuminated the night sky over Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, on Friday.

The event, which was televised and watched by thousands of Malawians at the Bingu International Convention Center, marked the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges and the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The drones took to the sky, forming a series of images featuring the national flags of China and Malawi, notable China-funded infrastructure projects in Malawi, and Malawian President Peter Mutharika, which resonated deeply with Malawians.

Wycliffe Njiragoma, a senior journalist of a Malawian news outlet, told Xinhua that he was captivated by the creativity of Chinese tech experts.

"This is unbelievable! I've never seen anything of this sort," he said.

Addressing the event, Malawian Foreign Affairs Minister George Chaponda said there is much for Malawi to learn from China, and the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have contributed immensely to Malawi's economy in many ways.

He hailed the drone light show as a milestone, saying the first-ever such spectacle in Malawi demonstrated the deepening bilateral relations between Malawi and China.