The first Silver Leaf Chinese Wushu Competition was held on Sunday at Coco Beach in Dar es Salaam with 13 participating teams across Tanzania.

Co-organized by Tanzanian Wushu Association and Chinese Business Chamber of Tanzania, the competition featured two events of Taolu and Sanda.

Mwarami Mitete, President of Tanzanian Wushu Association, told Xinhua that the competition is expected to encourage more Tanzanians to learn Chinese Wushu and boost the sports and culture exchanges between the peoples of the two countries.

"Many Tanzanians like Chinese Wushu and some of them have been to China for training. I visited China's Shandong province twice last year to study Wushu," said Mitete.

He also expressed the hope that Chinese coaches could come to Tanzania to teach Wushu, however, there is a constrain of expense, he added.

For his part, Zhu Jinfeng, Chairman of Chinese Business Chamber of Tanzania, said that this is the first time for Tanzania to hold a national Chinese Wushu Competition, pledging continued support to the event and wishing greater success to next year's competition.

After the competition, Chinese ambassador to Tanzania Liu Xinsheng sent congratulations on the success of the 1st Silver Leaf Chinese Wushu Competition, expressing his belief that the event for sure will enhance the people-to-people exchange between the two countries and wishing long-lasting China-Tanzania friendship.

Established in 2009, Tanzanian Wushu Association consists of 15 club teams.

(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2011)