Advertisement
China-Tanzania ties sealed with 15 agreements during presidential visit
- Deals include an upgrade for the Tazara railway, built by China 50 years ago and still its largest foreign aid project
- Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is the first African leader to visit Beijing since last month’s party congress
Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
11
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has won her country multimillion dollar deals with China in her first state visit to Beijing since taking office.
Hassan’s Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping noted it was also the first visit to China by an African leader since last month’s 20th Communist Party Congress.
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.
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.
“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,” Xi said.
Advertisement