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 the Tanzanian Wushu Association (TWA) and Chinese Business Chamber of Tanzania (CBCT), the competition featured two events of taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring).

Mwarami Mitete, President of TWA, told the media that the competition is expected to encourage more Tanzanians to learn Chinese wushu (a martial art) and boost sports and culture exchanges between 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 the sport, although there is a constrain of expense, he added.

For his part, Zhu Jinfeng, chairman of the CBCT, said this is the first time Tanzania has hold a national wushu competition, pledging continued support to the event and wishing greater success for next year's competition.

After the competition, Chinese ambassador to Tanzania Liu Xinsheng sent congratulations on the success of the first Silver Leaf Chinese Wushu Competition, expressing his belief that the event will enhance exchanges between the two countries and wishing long-lasting Chinese-Tanzanian friendship.

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