Xi concludes visit to Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM - Chinese President Xi Jinping left here Monday afternoon for South Africa after wrapping up a successful state visit to Tanzania.

During his talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete on Sunday, the two sides agreed to carry on their traditional friendship, construct a comprehensive cooperative partnership based on mutual benefit and win-win results, and lift bilateral relations to a higher level.

In Dar es Salaam, the Chinese president also met with other Tanzanian leaders, delivered an important speech at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center, and witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral agreements on economic, trade and cultural cooperation.

The two-day Tanzania trip marked the start of Xi's first visit to Africa after he assumed the presidency. Tanzania was also the second leg of his ongoing maiden foreign tour as China's head of state, which had already taken him to Russia.

In South Africa, Xi will attend the fifth BRICS summit in Durban on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first to be held on the African continent. He will visit the Republic of the Congo after that.