After talks, the leaders witnessed the signing of a number of documents, covering cooperation in areas such as trade and culture.
"My visit aims to consolidate the traditional friendship between China and Tanzania, plan future cooperation and push forward joint development," Xi said in a written statement issued at the airport.
"In the nearly five decades since we established diplomatic relations, we have built up trust and constantly supported each other. Our political, economic and cultural cooperation has yielded fruitful achievements," he said.
President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, wave as they alight from the plane in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam on Sunday. [Photo/Agencies]
China and Tanzania set up diplomatic ties in 1964. China supported Tanzania's liberation struggle and helped it construct major infrastructure projects.
In the 1970s, China sent experts, specialists and about 15,000 workers to build the strategic Tanzam Railway, also called Tazara. The project gave Zambia, and other landlocked countries, access to the ocean.
Xi is scheduled to visit the tomb of 69 Chinese experts and workers who died while building the railway.
Xi will also attend, with Kikwete, the handover ceremony for the Mwalimu Nyerere Conference Center in downtown Dar es Salaam. The landmark project was built with Chinese government loans.
On the eve of the visit, Xi told reporters from the BRICS countries that "China values friendly relations with all African countries, regardless of size or wealth".
"Whether it is a country that is resource rich or poor, China will treat it equally," he said.
Zhang Hongming, a researcher on African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the decision to select Tanzania as the first stop of Xi's African tour is "testimony to the traditional friendship", and the visit to the continent generally indicates the strong ties built over decades.