By Enyichukwu Enemanna
China and Kenya announced on Thursday that they had upgraded their ties to a “new level” during a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Kenyan President William Ruto in Beijing, pledging to build an “all-weather” China-Africa community.
Both leaders affirmed their commitment to “injecting more stability into the world with the certainty of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation”, according to a joint China-Kenya statement.
The statement added that this partnership would help safeguard the “common interests of developing countries” and defend the multilateral system through “inclusive economic globalisation”.
The decision to upgrade China-Kenya relations was taken “in the face of a turbulent international situation”, President Xi was quoted as saying in a separate media report.
In their joint statement, Ruto and Xi also reaffirmed their support for the World Trade Organization’s values and basic principles, pledging to “resolutely oppose new hegemonic tactics such as illegal unilateral sanctions, ‘decoupling and chain breaking’, tariff barriers and technological blockades”.
Both sides committed to deepening peace and security cooperation by strengthening ties in personnel training, the military industry, counter-terrorism efforts, and joint exercises and training.
Chinese companies, the statement said, would be encouraged to cooperate with Kenya in developing a local medical and health industry in line with the country’s needs.
President Xi first launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, positioning Africa as a key focus of the global infrastructure plan designed to expand China’s geopolitical and economic influence.
Kenya has been a major recipient of BRI investments and has secured several loans from China to fund large-scale infrastructure projects, making China the East African country’s largest bilateral lender.
Among the notable projects is the modern railway line connecting the port city of Mombasa to the country’s hinterland.
According to local media, Xi and Ruto signed 20 agreements on Thursday, including deals covering science and technology cooperation, vocational education, water resources, e-commerce, intelligent transport systems and the railway sector.
