Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday met with Kenyan President William Ruto, who is in Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
Expressing his welcome to President Ruto, Xi pointed out China and Kenya enjoyed a long history of friendship as 600 years ago Chinese navigator Zheng He set foot in Kenya’s Mombasa port.
The Chinese president recalled that 60 years ago, after Kenya formally proclaimed its independence, China and Kenya immediately established diplomatic relations.
The two countries have always treated each other as equals and supported each other, and have become good friends with mutual trust and good partners with win-win cooperation, Xi added.
Xi said over the past 10 years, China and Kenya have jointly carried out large-scale projects such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway. Jointly building the Belt and Road has boosted people’s sense of gain through friendly cooperation.
He also told Ruto that China is pushing forward Chinese modernization with high-quality development and is promoting common development of the world by advancing high-standard opening-up.
The Chinese side is ready to work with Kenya to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and promote the continuous development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Xi said.
President is hoping to raise Ksh.150 billion ($1 billion) to finance stalled projects, even as China changes tact in financing projects on the continent.
