Presidents Ruto, Xi Jinping meet in Beijing

Beijing, China | THE STAR KENYA & XINHUA | President William Ruto and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting in China. The meeting was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China today.

It came ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit.

During the meeting, Ruto said, President Xi agreed to give Kenya’s agricultural produce access to the Chinese market.

“We also agreed to discuss regional infrastructure projects such as the expansion of SGR, and the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba dual carriageway,” he said.

Kenya and China have excellent and cordial diplomatic relations, which have been mutually beneficial to the two countries.

The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is ongoing in Beijing from Sept. 4 to 6. The leaders of China and African countries will gather around the theme “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future” to celebrate friendship and chart the way forward for cooperation.

This marks another grand reunion of the China-Africa big family following the 2006 Beijing summit, the 2015 Johannesburg summit, and the 2018 Beijing summit of the FOCAC. It is also the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.

DRAWING NEW BLUEPRINT

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the 2024 summit on Sept. 5 and deliver a keynote speech, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.

In his speech, Xi will elaborate on the new ideas and propositions on building a high-level community with a shared future between China and Africa, and announce new actions and measures for practical cooperation with Africa, said Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong.

Xi will also host a welcoming banquet and relevant bilateral events for the leaders of FOCAC’s African members and representatives of relevant African regional organizations and international organizations.

Chen noted that Xi had visited Africa five times as the Chinese president, attended two FOCAC summits, and chaired the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19 and the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue. He has also summarized the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and in person charted the course for the development of China-Africa relations in the new era.