Chinese leaders mark 50th anniversary of ties with Tanzania

China and Tanzania sealed nine cooperation documents at the Great Hall of the People on Friday, including economic and technical cooperation agreements.

China supports Tanzania building a regional logistic and manufacturing center, as well as constructing economic special zones and industrial parks, President Xi Jinping told his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in a meeting before they witnessed the signing.

He said China is willing to strengthen the 50-year-old ties with the African country in fields including infrastructural construction, aviation and financing.

China will also continue to send medical teams and agricultural experts to Tanzania, and help the country train personnel, he added.

As a frequent visitor to China, Kikwete said Tanzania is devoted to realizing industrialization and modernization, and would like to strengthen exchanges with China and learn from its development experience.

During a separate meeting with Kikwete, Premier Li Keqiang called for aviation enterprises from both countries to boost cooperation through setting up joint ventures.

He Wenping, a research fellow of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said huge potential remains to be tapped in cooperation between both countries.

"While making progress in infrastructure cooperation such as the construction of ports, logistics centers and railways, China and Tanzania are also exploring new areas such as agriculture and clean energy," she said.

According to He, the East African Community (EAC) has experienced fast development in recent years in forming a unified market.

"A logistics center and upgrading infrastructure in Tanzania, which is a member of the EAC, will help to give a boost to this target," she said.

According to the Economic and Commercial Representation of China in Tanzania, trade volume between the countries exceeded $3.7 billion in 2013, up 49 percent over a year ago. China is also Tanzania’s second-largest source of investment.

The figure is expected to hit a new high as construction of the Tanzania-China Logistics Center, a trade hub for high quality Chinese products in the East and Central African markets, would start soon.

Tanzania said in August that China will finance the project to the tune of $412.5 million, and the project will create more than 25,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs, Xinhua reported.