DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania and China are to engage in more fruitful cooperation, Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Palamagamba Kabudi has said.
Kabudi made the remarks while attending a reception held on Thursday by the Chinese embassy in Tanzania to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Kabudi said Tanzania-China relations have endured and grown into an all-weather relationship and China also assisted Tanzania with a variety of economic aid programs.
"The most notable early project was the Tanzania-Zambia Railway," said Kabudi.
"During the past 70 years, China has gone through an extraordinary journey by developing itself from an impoverished and weak country into a nation of prosperity and strength," Wang Ke, Chinese ambassador to Tanzania said at the reception.
"China is now the world's second largest economy, largest manufacturer, largest trader in goods and the biggest holder of foreign exchange reserves," Wang told her audience.
This year also marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of China-Tanzania diplomatic relations, said Wang, noting that China-Tanzania cooperation has brought concrete benefits to the peoples of the two countries.
According to data from the Chinese embassy in Tanzania, bilateral trade volume in 2018 reached about 3.976 billion U.S. dollars, registering a year-on-year growth of 15 percent.
Meanwhile, China's total investment in Tanzania has exceeded 7 billion dollars, which made China a leading foreign investor in the east African nation. China is also the largest project contractor in Tanzania with investments ranging from infrastructure, mining, agriculture to manufacturing, hotels, real estate and banks.
