Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has accepted an invitation to attend the China-Africa summit slated for later this year, according to a joint communique issued at the end of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's two-day official visit to the United Republic of Tanzania.

The statement said that President Kikwete had accepted the invitation extended by his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao with pleasure.

The China-Africa summit of heads of state is scheduled to be held in Beijing in November.

The joint communique quoted the Chinese visitor and his Tanzanian hosts as pledging to lift China-Tanzania "all-weather" partnership to a higher level through enhancing political mutual trust and friendly cooperation in all fields.

The two sides also pledged to support each other on issues concerning national development, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Tanzania expressed its opposition to "Taiwan independence", the creation of "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" as well as Taiwan's efforts to accede to any regional or international organizations for which statehood is required.

The Chinese premier and Tanzanian president during their talks agreed that their two countries enjoy great potential for economic cooperation and expressed their readiness to actively expand mutually beneficial cooperation in agriculture, telecommunications, trade, investment, resources exploration, infrastructure, and human resources development.

The two leaders also expressed their countries' readiness to expand exchange and cooperation in culture, education, health, tourism, public security, immigration and auditing, according to the joint communique.

Wen is the fourth Chinese premier to have visited Tanzania since the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 1964.

Tanzania is the sixth stop of Wen's seven-country Africa tour which already took the Chinese premier to Egypt, Ghana, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, South Africa and Tanzania. Wen is to wind up in Uganda his eight-day trip to Africa that started on June 17.
?
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2006)