Chinese premier pledges closer co-op with Tanzania, Benin

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who is attending the 2014 World Economic Forum on Africa, in Abuja, Nigeria, May 7, 2014. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed in Abuja on Wednesday to promote cooperation with Tanzania and Benin in various areas.

Li made the pledge during separate meetings with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi, who are here for the upcoming 2014 World Economic Forum on Africa. [Special coverage]

"The China-Tanzania acts as a vanguard in China-Africa relationship," Li said when meeting Kikwete, commending the two nations' mutual respect, trust and support in the past 50 years since they forged diplomatic ties.

China, Tanzania and other African nations are all developing countries that can complement each other via cooperation, he said, adding that China is ready to intensify high-level exchange with Tanzania, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation via major projects and enhance cultural exchange in a bid to deepen their comprehensive cooperative partnership.

For his part, Kikwete called China a longtime and reliable friend of Tanzania and Africa, and noted that the cooperation framework proposed by Li in his speech at the African Union headquarters on Monday is in the interests of African people and is widely supported by African countries.

Tanzania is ready to work with China to cement traditional friendship, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and implement the cooperation framework for more progress in Africa-China relations, he said.