China and Tanzania signed co-operation agreements worth millions of dollars on Sunday during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to this east African country aimed to reinforce ties. The deals, aggregating 21.9 million dollars (17 million euros) and covering agriculture, communications and technical co-operation, were signed after talks between Hu and his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaye Kikwete.
The two presidents witnessed the ceremonies but made no comments to the press. Hu arrived here late Saturday on the third stop of a whirlwind African tour that has taken him to Mali and Senegal and that finishes in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius on Tuesday.
He was given an official welcome ceremony with a parade, while he saluted in a statement 45 years of "exemplary" ties with Tanzania. Chief among the newly signed deals is a 120-million-yuan (17.5-million-dollar, 13.6-million-euro) co-operation agreement in agriculture - a key sector in Tanzania where 80 percent of the population depends on farming.
"The funds will largely be used to finance investments in agriculture, especially providing loans to importers of agricultural machinery," Tanzanian presidential spokesman Salva Rweyemanu said. China also inked a 4.4-million-dollar agreement to rehabilitate the state radio and television channels in the island of Zanzibar and another to send Chinese volunteers to Tanzania to work in various fields including health.
Hu later inaugurated a 56-million-dollar, 60,000-seat sports complex, financed mostly by the Chinese government.
The Chinese embassy earlier quoted the president as praising the "sound and smooth way" the bilateral relationship has developed since ties were established 45 years ago.
"It can be viewed as an exemplary relationship of sincerity, solidarity and co-operation between China and an African country and between two developing countries," Hu said.
"The president said his visit is aimed at enhancing mutual trust, expanding co-operation, planning for the future and lifting the friendly and co-operative relations to a new high," the statement added. China is one of the top 10 investors in Tanzania, according to official figures. Trade between the two countries was worth 794 million dollars in 2007, 48.2 percent up on 2006.
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