Kenya and China have signed six bilateral trade deals to deepen their bilateral relations.
The agreements were signed by Trade Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina and China’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi when he visited the coastal city of Mombasa, on an official state visit.
The deals were in line with nine programmes announced by China’s President Xi Jinping during the 8th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC held in Dakar, Senegal in November 2021 aimed at supporting African nations.
Speaking during a bilateral meeting in form of a Ministerial Roundtable, the CS noted that under the framework of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road initiative, development cooperation between Kenya and China have continued to grow.
“Kenya lauds China’s contribution to the global development Agenda and is pleased with the ongoing cooperation between the two countries at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and support to the African Union (AU) in the implementation of Peace and Security mandate,” said Omamo.
The agreements signed were based on poverty reduction, health, bilateral investments, digital innovation, peace and security and green development.
The meeting underscored the importance Kenya attaches to Kenya-China relations based on historic ties that continue to blossom buttressed by strong commercial ties growing from strength to strength and solidified under the Strategic Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership.
Under the Framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Kenya and China cooperation has expanded to spheres including socio-economic, cultural and diplomatic exchanges.
With COVID-19 indirectly affecting food production in different parts of Kenya, Beijing pledged to donate 12,000 tonnes of rice to Nairobi to help needy families weather the pandemic and establish a working group that will look into issues of tariff and non-tariff barriers to Kenya-China.
“The two sides also concluded and signed two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade particularly the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China,” the CS added.
China also agreed to donate 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Kenya under the planned 1 billion additional doses to Africa while also consenting to hold further talks on the development of cold storage facilities, vaccine production and medical personnel training.
Under the poverty reduction and agricultural development initiatives, China donated 12,000 tons of rice for relief efforts for families that were affected by Covid 19. Both countries agreed to explore further cooperate in agricultural value addition, capacity building and trade facilitation for Kenya’s agricultural products.
In the area of trade promotion, the two sides acknowledged the steady rise in bilateral trade and acknowledged the huge potential to increase export trade volumes and value through addressing both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers in order to address the trade deficit that is in favour of China.
Kenya also signed an MOU on the establishment of a working group that will look into issues of tariff and non-tariff barriers to Kenya-China trade and fast track increase in exports from Kenya to China.
The two sides also concluded and signed two protocols to facilitate bilateral trade particularly the export of avocados and aquatic products from Kenya to China.
