Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) holds a ceremony to welcome Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, August 17, 2005.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on August 17 that China is ready to expand political and economic cooperation with Kenya to deepen bilateral ties.

During his hour-long talks with Kibaki, Hu said that China-Kenya ties have developed steadily over the past 42 years since the two forged diplomatic ties and the bilateral relations continued to grow since President Kibaki took office in 2002.

He expressed his appreciation for Kenya's firm adherence to the one-China policy and its precious support to China on the Taiwan question and human rights issues.

Kibaki, who arrived in China on Monday for a five-day state visit, said Kenya-China friendship dated back to 600 hundreds years ago, when legendary Chinese navigator and explorer Zheng He led a fleet from China to the east coast of Africa and made a stop in Kenya.

Kibaki said China is a close friend and sincere partner of Kenya and Kenya appreciates China's long-term help and support to its economic and social development.

The Kenyan government firmly abides by the one-China policy and supports China's efforts for national reunification, Kibaki said.

Hu said Kenya is an important country in east Africa and China's key partner in that region.

To further the long-term stable and mutual beneficial cooperation, Hu suggested that the two countries maintain high-level visits and give full play to the cooperative mechanisms already established, to enhance mutual understanding and trust and lay down a more solid political foundation for the development of bilateral ties.

He also suggested the two countries expand pragmatic cooperation to achieve win-win results and seek common development.

"China is ready to expand economic and trade cooperation with Kenya and actively implement the cooperative projects agreed by the two sides in the areas of transportation, telecommunication, electric power, and infrastructure construction," Hu said.

He also suggested the two enhance exchanges in the fields of education, health, news service and human resources and improve consultation and cooperation on major international and regional issues to jointly safeguard the rights and interests of the developing countries.

According to Chinese Customs, the bilateral trade volume between China and Kenya reached a record high of 366 million US dollars in 2004, with a 44.3 percent increase in China's export to Kenya and 94.3 percent increase in its import from Kenya compared with the previous year.

Kibaki said Kenya hopes the bilateral cooperation in the fields of economic development, trade, health, tourism and infrastructure construction would yield greater fruits.

On China-Africa relations, Hu said expanding China-Africa friendly cooperative relations is a key component of China's independent foreign policy of peace.

"China is the largest developing country in the world. Africa is a continent with the largest number of developing nations. China and Africa enjoy great potential in cooperation," Hu said.

Hu said China will join hands with African countries to promote the China-Africa Cooperation Forum to further upgrade the China-Africa partnership.

Kibaki said China has always supported African countries' efforts for peace, stability and development.

He said he hoped China would continue its support in this regard. He said Kenya attaches great importance to the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and is ready to join hands with China to make the forum a key platform for China and Africa to improve mutual understanding and cooperation.

After the talks between the two heads of state, the two governments signed five documents covering economic, air transport and quarantine cooperation.

This is Kibaki's first visit to China as Kenyan president. During his stay in Beijing, he will also meet Chinese top lawmaker Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Source: Xinhua