China-Kenya handshake of equals to bring win-win cooperation: Chinese ambassador

NAIROBI - The China-Kenya handshake of equals shall bring win-win cooperation for partners, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya said on Thursday.

Zhou Pingjian said in a commentary published in the Daily Nation newspaper that the fruitful and wide-ranging cooperation between China and Kenya is a vivid epitome of and stands out in Sino-Africa cooperation.

"The China-Kenya relationship, already upgraded twice in recent years, is at its best," wrote Zhou and observed that no country can achieve desired development without requisite infrastructure.

"And as I understand, infrastructure is topmost on the list of the foundations for socio-economic transformation according to Kenya Vision 2030," the envoy said.

He said that infrastructure connectivity is part of the Eight Major initiatives of the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit.

"I am all too glad to learn that several development projects in Kenya are in partnership with China. What we have gone through together shows we are more than partners; we are comrades-in-arms," Zhou said.

He noted that China never interferes in African countries' pursuit of development paths that suit their own national conditions, never imposes its will upon others, never attaches strings to its assistance and never seeks political gain in investment and financing cooperation.

The Chinese envoy said that China will work with Kenya to take forward the Belt and Road cooperation and implementation of the FOCAC Beijing Summit and the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19.

"We shall progress the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership for greater benefits to both peoples," the diplomat added.

He noted that China has been Africa's largest trading partner for 11 years in a row, contributing more than 20 percent of its growth.

"Many flagship projects, including the Africa Union Conference and the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, have been completed," he added.

The envoy added that cooperation in fields like science, education, culture, health, people-to-people exchanges, peace and security is also making headway.