China's head-of-state diplomacy: Tanzania-Zambia Railway symbolizes China-Africa friendship

In March 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tanzania, the first stop of his first trip to Africa as president of China.

The visit greatly excited Wang Chao, who was then an employee of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). He had worked in Tanzania for half a year by then.

The railway station of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. (Photo/Shen Xiaoxiao)

The predecessor of the CCECC, which was named Foreign Aid Bureau of the Ministry of Railways, had undertaken the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) project, which links Dar es Salam in Tanzania and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

At the time when China was not well off itself, it provided a 988 million-yuan interest-free loan and nearly 1 million tonnes of equipment and materials, sent 56,000 personnel, and spent five years and eight months helping Tanzania and Zambia build the 1,860 kilometer-long TAZARA railway.

To this day, photos of Chinese and African workers working together at the construction site of the railway are still shown at the railway station of the TAZARA railway authority in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city.

What's particularly heartwarming was that more than 60 Chinese experts lost their lives when they were on assistance missions to Tanzania during the construction of the TAZARA railway, which is hailed as the Freedom Railway.

During Xi's state visit to Tanzania in 2013, he paid a special visit to the Chinese Experts Cemetery in Dar es Salaam.

They interpreted the great spirit of internationalism with their lives, and, just as the TAZARA, they will be remembered by both the Chinese and Tanzanians, Xi said.

During the visit to Tanzania, Xi elaborated on the principles of China's Africa policy – sincerity, real results, amity and good faith for the first time, and China and Tanzania signed 17 agreements on friendly cooperation in fields including trade, investment, infrastructure construction, agriculture, communication, and the development of export processing zones.

Over the past 10 years, Wang Chao has witnessed the construction of many China-assisted landmark projects in Tanzania, while he was promoted from professional technician to a managerial position. He is now CCECC East Africa Limited's deputy project manager in charge of the fifth bid section of the standard gauge railway (SGR) in Tanzania.

Just like Wang, batches of Chinese people have seized opportunities to work in Tanzania and contributed to infrastructure construction in the country during the past decade. As they witnessed tremendous changes in this ancient land, relations between Tanzania and China have continuously deepened, and the hearts of the two peoples have come closer.