Successful China-Kenya ties building shared future

Bilateral friendship has strengthened since establishment of ties 56 years ago

On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it is worth hailing robust China-Kenya ties, which mark 56 years of existence this year. Just as China has come far, the partnership between the two peoples has overcome many challenges and is now headed toward greater prosperity.

Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the PRC on Oct 1, 1949. At that time, Jomo Kenyatta, who later become Kenya's founding president, was leading the Mau Mau movement to take the Kenyan people on the road to national sovereignty. In 1963, when Kenya finally gained independence, China and Kenya established diplomatic relations. In 1978, China adopted the reform and opening-up strategy and signed a trade agreement with Kenya.

Over the past 70 years, China has risen from a struggling agriculture-based economy to becoming the world's second-largest economy. Trade and economic cooperation between China and Kenya has also touched unprecedented levels.

Since arriving in Kenya this March, I've felt the depth and breadth of China-Kenya friendship and cooperation. It is touching to read comments like "with your projects you've never disappointed us".This was on a post on the embassy's Facebook page about a Chinese company successfully completing the transmission line for the Lake Turkana Wind power plant within a record six months. The Kenyan government itself has hailed it as "engineering magic in Kenya's history".

Equally delightful are stories of how Chinese companies have actively leveraged their equipment and human resources to help residents. China Wuyi invested over $20,000 and 508 hours of labor to build six water ponds that would help 3,000 residents secure water supply for their households, farming and animal husbandry. China International Water& Electric built water reservoirs and donated diesel-powered pumps and generators to benefit 1,200 residents in Bubisa.

Even Kenyan staff of Chinese companies are involved in social responsibility. China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) set up a free medical camp in Suswa, providing basic physical examinations and free medication to about 1,000 people of the Maasai community. A Maasai employee at CCCC, named Elizabeth, served as an interpreter at the camp. From queue management, physical examination, consulting the doctors to distributing prescriptions and medicines, Elizabeth and her co-workers were needed at every step. Their faces beamed with joy as they helped their own people.

The China-Kenya partnership is buzzing in over 100 major projects developed jointly by both countries in the past 56 years. The outstanding ones include the Moi International Stadium in Nairobi, the Thika Superhighway, the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway and the soon-to-be-launched Nairobi to Naivasha SGR.

As of May 31, the second anniversary of its passenger train service, the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR had transported 300 million passengers and 440,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo and maintained a safe operation record of 731 days. The railway provides the region with a fast lane to growth and prosperity. As one of the early success stories under the Belt and Road Initiative framework, it is a clear demonstration of the value generated by China-Africa industrial cooperation.

Cooperation between China and Kenya is not defined by the SGR alone. Major projects invested by the Chinese side include laying of high-speed internet connectivity lines by Huawei, promoting industrial upgrading, job creation for Kenyans, and contributing to sustainable community livelihoods.

For years, China has been one of Kenya's top trading partners, and a major source of foreign direct investment. Last year, China's non-financial direct investment in Kenya doubled to about $520 million.

Today, there are more than 400 Chinese businesses operating in Kenya, creating nearly 130,000 jobs for residents. These companies have played an important role in accelerating advancement of President Uhuru Kenyatta's development blueprint - or Big Four Agenda - of food security, manufacturing, health and housing.

China is helping Kenya grow through adding value to agricultural products for export. The two sides recently signed a couple of agreements to give the vast China market preferential access to Kenya's agricultural products.

Thanks to mutual understanding on many international and regional issues, the two countries continue to expand and deepen cooperation in all fields. The China-Africa Joint Research Center and China-Kenya Laboratory for Crop Molecular Biology were established in Kenya. This year, over 180 Kenyans were awarded Chinese government-sponsored scholarships to study in China.

During seven decades of relentless progress under the Communist Party of China, the country has cultivated a middle-income population of over 400 million and lifted some 800 million people out of poverty. By the end of 2020, China will have taken all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty.

As China moves forward, it will continue to boost bilateral exchanges to help Kenya achieve industrialization and modernization and bring tangible benefits to the people of both countries while striding toward a shared future.

The author is Chinese ambassador to Kenya. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Global 09/18/2019 page13)