Honorable Speaker of House of Representatives Mr. Zubeir Ali Maulid,
Honorable Minister of Health Mr. Nassor Ahmed Mazrui,
Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps,
Friends from the Zanzibar Government and all walks of life,
Fellow Chinese Compatriots in Zanzibar,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening!
Today, we gather together to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. On behalf of the Consulate General of China in Zanzibar, I extend a sincere welcome to all distinguished guests present at this reception, warm festive greetings to all Chinese compatriots in Zanzibar, and heartfelt appreciation to all friends who have long been dedicated to the friendship between China and Tanzania, and between China and Zanzibar.
Over the past 76 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have worked tirelessly in unity and forged a path of Chinese-style modernization. This has led to remarkable achievements that have drawn worldwide attention, while also contributing significantly to world peace and common development.
China is committed to pursuing high-quality development, achieving a historic leap in its comprehensive national strength. The year 2025 will mark the conclusion of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan. Key indicators related to economic growth, innovation, and people’s well-being are expected to meet or surpass targets. By the end of 2025, China’s GDP is projected to reach around 140 trillion yuan, consolidating its position as the world’s second-largest economy. Since the reform and opening-up in 1978, more than 800 million people in China have been lifted out of poverty, contributing over 70% of global poverty reduction.
China has built the most comprehensive and largest-scale manufacturing system in the world, maintaining its position as the largest manufacturing nation for 15 consecutive years. More than 200 major industrial products rank first globally. China has built the world’s largest clean energy generation system, which has led the global green transition and contributed to tackling climate change. Innovation in high-tech fields continues to flourish, with breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, and the digital economy. China’s AI model DeepSeek, known for being “effective, open-source, and free,” has generated worldwide attention.
China is advancing high-level opening up and sharing development opportunities with the world. China’s growth rate remains among the highest of major economies. During the first four years of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the average annual growth rate was 5.5%. Over the five years, economic output will increase by more than 35 trillion yuan, contributing about 30% to global economic growth—remaining the largest growth engine worldwide. China is the world’s largest trading nation in goods. Since joining the WTO, its average tariff level has dropped from 15.3% to 7.3%, exceeding commitments.
China hosts major international expos such as the China International Import Expo, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China International Supply Chain Expo, and the China International Consumer Products Expo, providing opportunities for global enterprises to share the dividends of its vast market. China is also steadily expanding institutional opening up in areas such as rules, regulations, management, and standards, further enhancing the confidence and convenience for foreign investors. Through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, China continues to address global development challenges, narrow the development gap, and support global progress.
China is committed to pursuing peaceful development and works to reform and improve the global governance system. As a responsible major country, China is committed to safeguarding world peace and international order and actively participates in global governance. On September 1 this year, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Governance Initiative at the “SCO+” meeting, calling for sovereign equality, respect for international law, multilateralism, people-oriented approaches, and action-driven results. These five key concepts illustrate the principles, approaches, and pathways that should guide the reform and improvement of global governance.
Global Governance Initiative reflects China’s wisdom and solutions to the global governance deficit and contributes to building a fairer and more reasonable global governance system. This initiative is another major international public good that China has contributed to the world, following the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. Together, these four global initiatives inject strong momentum into building a community with a shared future for mankind and open up bright prospects for humanity.
On September 3, China held a grand ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. President Xi solemnly declared that the Chinese people will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and join hands with the rest of the world to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
This year marks the 61st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Tanzania. Over the past 61 years, China and Tanzania have stood together through thick and thin, respecting and supporting each other, and cooperating in solidarity to achieve win-win results. Within this framework, China and Zanzibar have enjoyed long-standing friendship and steady development, with bright prospects for the future.
China-Tanzania and China-Zanzibar relations are solid and enduring, serving as a model of China-Africa relations and South-South cooperation. The traditional friendship between China and Tanzania, and between China and Zanzibar, was forged by the elder generation of leaders such as Chairman Mao Zedong, President Julius Nyerere, and President Abeid Karume. For decades, we have always supported each other through hardships, passing on and strengthening this friendship from generation to generation. We have consistently supported each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns. Tanzania has always firmly adhered to the One-China principle.
In November 2022, China and Tanzania established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, elevating bilateral cooperation to a new level. High-level exchanges are increasingly close, political mutual trust continues to deepen, and cooperation in various fields is expanding rapidly. China has remained Tanzania’s largest trading partner for nine consecutive years, with bilateral trade reaching nearly 9 billion USD in 2024. China-Zanzibar relations form an important component of China-Tanzania relations. The continued strengthening of China-Tanzania ties provides a solid political guarantee for deepening China-Zanzibar cooperation in multiple fields. In November 2024, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Zanzibar President Mwinyi visited China and attended the 7th China International Import Expo. During the visit, President Mwinyi highly praised China-Zanzibar relations, calling China a key partner in Zanzibar’s economic growth.
China-Zanzibar cooperation has yielded fruitful results and continues to enrich bilateral relations. In the field of healthcare, China has a long history of cooperation with Zanzibar. Since 1964, Jiangsu Province has sent 34 batches totaling more than 600 medical personnel to Zanzibar, providing medical services and treating numerous patients. China is the second largest importer of Zanzibar products, with bilateral trade reaching USD 66.5 million by 2024. At present, many large and medium-sized Chinese state-owned enterprises, including China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, China Railway Construction Engineering Group, and China Harbour Engineering Company, are participating in infrastructure development in Zanzibar, employing more than 3,000 local workers.
During President Mwinyi’s visit to China last November, the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority opened an office in China to further attract Chinese investment and expand bilateral economic and trade exchanges. Zanzibar’s rich tourism resources—ranging from historic sites such as Stone Town and spice farms to scenic beaches and crystal-clear seas—have drawn increasing numbers of Chinese tourists. The growing exchanges and cooperation between China and Zanzibar have deepened mutual understanding, promoted economic growth, and truly realized mutual benefit and win-win results.
Standing at a new historical starting point, China-Zanzibar relations enjoy even greater opportunities for development. On September 6, 2024, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) concluded successfully. China and Africa jointly adopted two important outcome documents: the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era and the Beijing Action Plan (2025-2027) of FOCAC. These documents elevated China-Africa relations to an all-weather community with a shared future for the new era, putting forward the six key propositions and the ten partnership actions for jointly advancing modernization between China and Africa. They also announced new practical measures for comprehensive cooperation in the next three years.
China is ready to work hand in hand with Zanzibar to implement the consensus reached by the two countries’ leaders at the Beijing Summit, consolidating cooperation in healthcare, infrastructure,education and training, while actively expanding into new fields to further enrich the content of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Tanzania.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,
As the saying goes, “Distance cannot separate true friends, who remain close even when thousands of miles apart.” The vast oceans cannot block the deepening friendship between China and Zanzibar. China will continue to work side by side with Zanzibar to make greater contributions to building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Finally, let us extend our best wishes:
May China, Tanzania, and Zanzibar enjoy prosperity, and may our peoples live in happiness!
Wishing all our distinguished guests good health and every success!
Thank you all!