Xi Jinping arrives in Tanzania at start of African tour

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Tanzania last night at the start of a three-nation African tour after wrapping up a two-day visit in Moscow.

Xi, who travelled with first lady Peng Liyuan, flew into Dar es Salaam. After attending a state banquet yesterday, he was expected to give his first policy speech on Africa today.

After Tanzania, Xi's next stop will be South Africa, where leaders of the world's major emerging economies, known as Brics - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - will meet tomorrow and Wednesday and could endorse plans to create a joint foreign-exchange-reserves pool and an infrastructure bank.

"We expect him to talk about avenues of investment, trade, peace and security, and elaborate on mining, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure development," Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe said.

Xi's visit to Africa - which ends in the Republic of Congo - is seen as a demonstration of Africa's strategic importance to China, driven by Beijing's hunger for resources and African demand for Chinese imports.

But Xi is expected to face mounting pressure to convince African officials and the public there that China craves not only resources, but is also willing to help with their development.

Before he left Moscow, Xi visited the Russian armed forces' Operational Command Centre on Saturday, when both countries pledged closer military co-operation.

"I believe the current willingness on the Chinese side to boost military co-operation can find a response from Moscow," Russian international affairs commentator Fyodor Lukyanov said.

But he added that Russia will avoid being seen as disrupting the military balance in the region by also enhancing ties with other countries, such as India.

Reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg