Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and visiting Tanzanian Prime Minister Frederick T. Sumaye held talks here this afternoon at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Zhu said that during the 36 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have withstood the test of time and a changing world situation, citing the fact that high- level contacts have been frequent and friendship between the two peoples have deepened.

Although great changes have taken place in both countries, their cooperation in various aspects have continued to expand and have produced fruitful results, Zhu said.

He noted that this deep friendship was created and fostered by leaders of the previous generation including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Nyerere, and stressed that the Chinese government and people highly treasure this relationship, and are willing to carry it on and see it further expanded.

Sumaye said his present visit is aimed at consolidating and increasing the already existing friendly cooperation between Tanzania and China, and noted that the exchange of visits by the two country's leaders have forcefully stimulated bilateral ties. As for economic and trade cooperation, Zhu said China and Tanzania have a long cooperative history, and in recent years China has actively explored and tried new cooperative avenues based on mutual benefit, while continuing its assistance to Tanzania.

In the future, along with governmental cooperation, China will encourage and support more enterprises that enjoy good reputations to go to Tanzania and carry out cooperation, Zhu said. He also expressed the hope that both countries will create a sound environment for such cooperative activities.

Sumaye said Tanzania has long received substantial economic assistance from China, and that although Tanzania has made some progress in economic construction, it is still faced with many tough tasks.

China, as a country with a huge population of 1.2 billion, has successfully solved the hard problem of feeding its people, he said, expressing the willingness to reinforce agricultural cooperation with China, and also open up enterprises jointly with Chinese companies.

Sumaye affirmed that Tanzania will, as always, stick to the " one China" policy, and supports China's stance on the Taiwan issue. Zhu expressed appreciation for this.

Zhu also expressed pleasure over Tanzania's success in maintaining long-term political stability and ethnic unity, and voiced admiration for its participation in the peaceful settlement of regional conflicts, and its efforts to push forward economic integration while safeguarding regional unity.

After the talks, Zhu and Sumaye attended the signing ceremony of an agreement on economic and technological cooperation between the two countries.

Sumaye arrived in Beijing earlier Wednesday for a six-day working visit as Zhu's guest.