DAR ES SALAAM -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a new library at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) to be built at a cost of about 40 million US dollars funded by the Chinese government.

President Magufuli said the Chinese government's 100 percent-aided project had come at the right time as the government was working hard to improve the country's education standard.

He said once completed, the state-of-the-art facility will boast a space of 20,000 square meters and house over 800,000 books.

The planned mega-library will also be able to accommodate 2,600 university students at any one time, officials said.

The ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the library was also attended by former president Jakaya Kikwete, who is the chancellor of the UDSM.

He appreciated the efforts by the Chinese government to fund various development projects in the country.

The Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, Lyu Youqing commended Tanzania's efforts towards the promotion of its economy which grew at high rate in the last 10 years.

Lyu commended President Magufuli's speedy transformation of the east African nation which aims to fulfill the Development Vision 2025 that would see the country developing into a middle class economy.

President Magufuli said his government had been providing 9.4 million US dollars every month to fund free education.

"Increased enrollment in primary schools have left us with challenges of shortage of classrooms and desks. We request education stakeholders to keep on supporting the government," said the President.