The launch ceremony of the Sino-African joint media interview program is held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on November 28 (CHEN RAN)

More than 40 journalists from China and Africa are visiting Chinese companies in Tanzania and Kenya as part of a seven-day program of joint interviews.

The program, organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China, began on November 28 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city.

The initiative aims to help both Chinese and Africans know more about Chinese companies' operations in Africa, said Sun Zhijun, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, at the launch ceremony.

Sun Zhijun, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, delivers a speech at the launch ceremony (CHEN RAN)

Tanzania's Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Nape Nnauye, told Beijing Review that the media can play an important role in bringing China and Tanzania and their peoples together. "Through this relationship, it will help our people understand what we are benefiting from China, and also it will help the Chinese people understand the strong relationship between the two countries," he said.

Nape Nnauye, Tanzania’s Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, speaks at the launch ceremony (CHEN RAN)

Program participants include People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television, Beijing Review, the Tanzania Broadcasting Corp., The Guardian of Tanzania, the Kenya Broadcasting Corp. and Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation.

(Reporting from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)

Copyedited by Chris Surtees