Relationship yields benefits for both sides

In 2009, China burst onto the African trade scene in full throttle, elbowing out both the European Union and the United States to become Africa's largest trading partner.

This was in no way a surprise to many analysts because China's foreign policy with regard to trade with Africa had been revised in 1979, during the start of its reform and opening-up policy. The policy outlook was and still is favorable to the promotion of trade between China and African countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions said that China's friendship to Africa is based on mutual benefit, mutual support and seeking common development. This has helped propel China's trade volume with Africa to great heights.

China's aid to Africa has also been on the rise, especially given the Ebola crisis, which has killed more than 8,000 people, mostly in the hardest-hit West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Since the outbreak of the deadly virus in February 2014, China has delivered four rounds of humanitarian aid with a combined value of more than 750 million yuan ($120 million) to Ebola-stricken countries and sent hundreds of medical workers to the African front line, Xinhua News Agency reported this month.

China's push for the establishment of the China-Africa Development Fund also has contributed significantly to the increased trade volume between China and Africa by spurring the growth of Chinese companies in Africa.

It can't be said, however, that it is only China's efforts that have contributed to the promotion of trade between China and Africa. Many African states also have made policy changes that have promoted this trade with their latest partner from the east.

In Kenya, since the second term of Mwai Kibaki - the country's third president, who served from December 2002 to April 2013 - trade ties with China have been on the rise. Kibaki is credited with spurring development projects in the country as opposed to engaging in political rhetoric, which is a characteristic of many African politicians.

Since then, Kenya has engaged China on many fronts, which has led to China becoming the largest foreign direct investment source for the country, which just turned 51 last year, as well as the second-largest trading partner after neighboring Uganda.

Bilateral trade between Kenya and China reached $2.4 billion in 2011 and $2.8 billion in 2012, rising in 2013 to $3.27 billion, and $4.43 billion in the first 11 months of last year, according to China's customs authorities.

This was a growth rate of about 15 percent with imports mainly in machinery, electronics, vehicles and spare parts. Other imports include iron, steel, plastic and furniture.

Exports to China are mainly unprocessed products such as tea, coffee and fish, which usually are repackaged in China to add value. Other leading exports are fresh flowers, plant-based textiles, copper, ores and leather. Titanium deposits in the southern coastal region of Kwale also are a major source of exports to China and Japan.

China has also exercised its "soft power" in East Africa's largest economy in a number of ways.

One of the most useful ways China has done this is in education, with well over 200 Kenyan students being awarded scholarships annually from the Chinese government to study in China's universities, while many more students are privately sponsored.

China finds it easy to trade with Kenya because of many factors, such as the well-developed port system in Mombasa, especially with the expansion of one of its berths recently, a project executed by a Chinese firm, China Road and Bridge Corporation.

Kenya is also a member of regional trading blocs such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community.

The EAC bloc, which encompasses Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, as well as Kenya, is home to more than 93 million East Africans, a large market for Chinese imports. COMESA, with 19 member states including Kenya, is home to 389 million people, which has induced many Chinese firms to establish regional headquarters in Nairobi, a city considered a major business, transport and logistics hub for the region and for Africa.

The availability of a skilled and educated workforce, a liberalized economy, strong infrastructure that is rapidly expanding and the recent discovery of natural gas and oil are other major factors that no doubt make Kenya more attractive to China, Japan and India, just to mention Asia.

A total of 17 agreements were signed last year between Beijing and Nairobi on such issues as education, infrastructure, energy, health and diplomatic ties.

The recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Nairobi was partly to see that the agreements are being implemented.

The nations' biggest agreement in terms of funding is construction of the Standard Gauge Railway line from Mombasa to Nairobi, which is being undertaken by China Road and Bridge Corp at a cost of 327 billion Kenyan shillings ($3.6 billion). China Exim Bank is financing 90 percent of this cost while the Kenyan government is covering the rest.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/23/2015 page8)