Chinese President Xi Jinping met Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Beijing on Thursday, and the two leaders agreed to elevate China-Tanzania relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, generally regarded as China’s highest diplomatic level, which promises full pursuit of cooperation and development.
Hassan and Xi witnessed the signing of 15 strategic agreements on Thursday, including an upgrade of the Tanzania-Zambia – or Tazara – railway, first funded by China 50 years ago and still its largest foreign aid project.
There was also a debt waiver and duty-free access to China for Tanzanian products.
During their meeting, the two leaders also agreed to maintain high-level communication, strengthen cooperation on various levels between legislative branches and political parties, expand trade scale, push forward infrastructure project cooperation and join hands in other fields such as green development as well as digital economy.
“China firmly supports Tanzania in safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and development interests, and firmly supports Tanzania in exploring a development path that suits its national conditions.
“China is willing to continue to expand the import of Tanzanian speciality products, support Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Tanzania, and provide assistance within its capacity for Tanzania’s economic and social development,” Xi said.
