Over 40 years ago, Tanzania and China were almost at the same level of development and shared more or less similar challenges: predominantly rural economies and poverty.

In 1978, China took the significant step of launching reform and opening-up which accelerated industrialization, established the private sector and promoted social transformation.

Tanzania did not introduce a similar reform drive until 2015 when John Pombe Magufuli came to power. But it is clear that Tanzania's reforms have taken lots of inspiration from China even though it has followed its own route to the social transformation seen today.

No doubt, the Magufuli administration has appreciated that China's peaceful society and social cohesion are one of the cornerstones for its development achievements.

Hence, despite the tense political situation, especially in the Zanzibar Archipelago, in the four years tenure of President Magufuli, Tanzania has learned to sustain its peaceful stature.

In the 2019 Global Peace Index Report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace, Tanzania ranked the 54th most peaceful country worldwide, the ninth in Africa and the first in the East Africa Community.

Improving the business environment with a strict sense of social accountability presupposes the flourishing of China's business and industrial sector. Tanzania has learned that lesson from China very well.

Since assuming power in 2015, the Magufuli administration, among other things, has vowed to tackle the manacles of bureaucracy for businesses by creating a conducive, friendly, accountable and attractive business environment for both locals and foreigners.

In the 2019 edition of the Rand Merchant Bank of South Africa report "Where to Invest in Africa", Tanzania ranked the seventh best destination to invest in Africa after Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya.

Tanzanians also respect Chinese for their uncompromising fight against corruption. Similar to China's all-round way of combating corruption, which aims at bringing all corrupt officials to justice, no matter they are big shots or small potatoes, President Magufuli is also waging an unsparing fight against both corrupt public officials and dishonest private businessmen to get rid of all forms of corruption in the country. He believes that corruption is the main reason for the poverty in Tanzania, which is a resource-rich country.

Tanzania is undergoing massive and noteworthy economic transformations through its Vision 2025 development strategy that aims to make the country a middle-income economy by 2025. The World Bank now expects that target can be achieved one or two years ahead of schedule.

Addressing the renaissance generation of leaders such as Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria in a Leadership Meeting held in Dar es Salaam last year, President Magufuli received accolades all over Africa when he said to the former leaders that Africa has no uncle anywhere on earth; its own renaissance has to start from using its own resources first.

Magufuli had declared earlier when inaugurating the China-aided University of Dar es Salaam's Library, his administration would only work with foreign partners such as China which respects the sovereignty of other countries and always promotes win-win cooperation.

As a Chinese proverb says: "To get rich, build roads first". The Chinese government prioritized the building of infrastructure in its economic development agenda during the past four decades.

Foreigners are often amazed by the speed at which the Chinese build their highways, subways, high-speed railways, bridges and other transport and communication infrastructure. This infrastructure has laid a solid foundation for the Chinese economy to grow continuously at a fast pace. More importantly, this expensive infrastructure is built mostly with Chinese taxpayers' money, not with foreign loans or grants.

Known for his love of infrastructure construction, especially roads and bridges, President Magufuli, who was a former minister of works, continues to link all the regions in the country and to decrease traffic jams in the cities alongside other infrastructure projects in the mining and railway sectors.

For example, on Dec 7, 2019, President Magufuli laid the foundation stone of the Kigongo-Busisi Bridge, the longest in East Africa and the sixth-longest in Africa. Valued at $300 million, the project will be entirely financed by domestic revenues, and be undertaken by China Civil Engineering Construction Group and China Railway 15th Bureau Group.

The implementation of the $2.9 billion landmark deal with an Egyptian company for the construction of the Mwalimu Nyerere Hydro Power Project, a 2,115 megawatts and fourth-biggest project in Africa, using taxpayers' money, is another project that President Magufuli has worked hard and against all odds to implement. And again, Chinese dams experts have been subcontracted to deliver the diversion tunnel works prior to the construction of the main dam.

Such win-win cooperation explains why, according to data from the Chinese embassy in Tanzania, the bilateral trade volume between Tanzania and China reached about $3.97 billion in 2018, registering year-on-year growth of 15 percent.

Meanwhile, China's total investment in Tanzania has exceeded $7 billion, which makes China a leading foreign investor in East Africa's fastest growing economy.

China is also the largest project contractor in Tanzania with investments ranging from infrastructure, mining, and agriculture to manufacturing, hotels, real estate, banks and communications.

The author is a lecturer in Journalism and Mass Communication at University of Dar es Salaam. 

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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