China cites ancient ties, pledges deeper cooperation with Kenya

Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan [Brian Ngugi, Standard]

China will deepen its cooperation with Kenya, its ambassador said on Monday, highlighting major infrastructure projects and educational exchanges as pillars of a relationship that she said dates back more than six centuries.

Speaking at an embassy open day to mark International Children's Day, Ambassador Guo Haiyan pointed to the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, the Nairobi Expressway, the Nairobi Global Trade Centre, and the Talanta Sports Stadium as "important symbols of China-Kenya friendship in the new era."

"These projects have vigorously promoted Kenya's economic and social development and contributed to the improvement of people's livelihoods," Guo said in a statement.

The ambassador also recalled the voyages of Chinese explorer Zheng He, whose fleet visited the Kenyan coast more than 600 years ago, bringing tea, silk, and porcelain, and returning to China with a giraffe, an animal that became known in Chinese legend as the auspicious "Qilin."

Kenya declared independence on Dec. 12, 1963. Two days later,  China and Kenya formally established diplomatic relations. Over more than six decades, Guo said, ties have "continuously deepened and developed" and were recently upgraded to a new stage of jointly building a community with a shared future for humanity.

On people-to-people exchanges, Guo noted that more than 2,000 Kenyan students have studied in China on Chinese government scholarships, while four Confucius Institutes in Kenya have trained tens of thousands of Kenyans in the Chinese language. Each year, over 100,000 Chinese tourists visit Kenya, she added.

Guo encouraged Kenyan students to study hard and follow China-Kenya relations closely. "When you grow up, you can visit China, learn more about China in person, fall in love with China, and contribute to the development of China-Kenya relations," she said.

The embassy also prepared cultural performances, games, and Chinese cuisine for the Children's Day event, along with activities marking the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls in two weeks.