Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday held talks with Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Zhang Ming who paid him a courtesy call, a State House press release said.

During the meeting, the ambassador briefed Kibaki on the forthcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation scheduled for Nov. 4 to 5, according to the press release.

The president and the ambassador also discussed a wide range of bilateral issues, including the strengthening of cooperation between Kenya and China.

Kibaki thanked the Chinese government for the support it has continued to give to Kenya and welcomed China's willingness to modernize Kenya's National Youth Service, saying the move will go a long way towards supporting the Kenyan government's efforts to empower the youth.

Kenya has decided to send a high-level delegation headed by President Kibaki to attend the Beijing summit, Kenya's Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju said in an interview with Xinhua.

The summit, to be preceded by a ministerial conference scheduled for Nov. 3, will be the largest-scale gathering between Chinese and African leaders since the inauguration of diplomatic relations between China and African countries 50 years ago. Scores of African leaders will attend the summit.

Source: Xinhua