PLA Chief of General Staff Starts Visit to Tanzania

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 29, 2001

PLA Chief of General Staff Starts Visit to Tanzania

General Fu Quanyou, chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army ( PLA), arrived in Dar es Salaam Wednesday for an official goodwill visit to Tanzania.

General Fu Quanyou, chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army ( PLA), arrived in Dar es Salaam Wednesday for an official goodwill visit to Tanzania.

Upon his arrival from Zambia, Fu, also member of the Central Military Commission of China, said at Dar es Salaam International Airport that the aim of his visit was to further consolidate and promote the friendship and cooperation between the two armed forces and the two peoples as well.

"We have brought with us the profound sentiments cherished by the people and armed forces of China towards the people and armed forces of Tanzania," he said in a written speech.

Fu said that the time-tested China-Tanzania friendship over the past decades would be further developed with the joint efforts on both sides in various fields.

Fu and his entourage were met by Tanzanian Navy Commander Major General Li Gate Sande and other high-ranking officers of the Tanzania People's Defense Forces (TPDF).

During his three-day visit in Tanzania, the third leg of his four-nation tour of Africa which has brought him to South Africa and Zambia, Fu will meet TPDF Chief General George Waitara, Defense Minister Philemon Sarungi and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.

Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Wang Yongqiu and representatives of Chinese experts working in Tanzania were also present at the airport to greet Fu and his entourage who will leave here for Kenya on Saturday.

Fu's entourage included Deputy Commander of the Chinese Navy Vice Admiral Zhang Dingfa, Deputy Commander of the PLA Chengdu Military Area Command and Commander of the Air Force of the Chengdu Military Area Command Lieutenant General Wang Chaoqun, and Commander of the Zhejiang Provincial Military Area Command Major General Yuan Xinghua.

Tanzania and China started their friendly relations in early 1960s when Tanzanian founder President Julius Nyerere visited several times the then Chinese leaders Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others.

The Chinese government constructed with a grand loan the well- known 1,860 kilometer-long Tanzania-Zambia Railway in the first cooperation project, which was followed by dozens of others in various sectors.

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