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CHINA

Kenyan president to pay 5-day state visit

Kenya's President William Ruto will pay a five-day state visit to China starting Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry has announced. Ruto will be the first African leader to visit China since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September, said Lin Jian, a spokesman for the ministry, at a regular news briefing on Thursday. Lin said the visit is expected to contribute to the deepening of China-Kenya relations and the implementation of outcomes from the Beijing Summit. He said the visit will also help build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and promote the solidarity and cooperation of the Global South.

SERBIA

Vucic firm on joining WWII victory parade

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that he has not changed his mind about attending Russian President Vladimir Putin's victory day parade in Moscow next month despite enormous pressure from the European Union over his decision. European officials have warned Vucic that his visit to Moscow for the World War II commemorations would be a breach of the bloc's membership criteria for potential new members and could derail the country's declared EU ambitions. "In the coming period, we will be under pressure regarding the event in Moscow in which we have announced our participation," Vucic told reporters.

China Daily - Agencies