There was a time when areas of downtown Nairobi were becoming ghost towns. Companies were moving their offices to the city outskirts, away from the milling crowds and noisy public service vehicles that were increasingly becoming a bother.
China Southern Airlines' recent launch of a direct air service to Nairobi marked its first route to Africa from its main hub, Guangzhou. It is seen as a catalyst to boost the growth of trade and tourism between China and Kenya.
After several days of turbulence on the foreign exchange markets, the Chinese currency, at least for now, looks to be heading for a period of calm.
The yuan's devaluation is a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges for African countries, with one leading Africa analyst saying the strengthening of the US dollar will prove more damaging to emerging economies, while another predicts wide net gains for Africa on the back of a softer Chinese currency.
The recent devaluation of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar by the government in Beijing stunned world financial markets, especially in Europe and the United States, and long-term effects may be felt across the globe.
On Aug 11, China announced it was depreciating the yuan by nearly 2 percent. The central bank described the devaluation as a one-off, as it also gave details of a new way of managing the exchange rate that allows the market to play a bigger role in the decision of the reference rate of the yuan.
A thick layer of clay dust coats Jessie Lee's work tables and shelves. Her studio abounds with vases and pots, but pride of place goes to a ceramic candlestick decorated with lotus flowers and a Chinese dragon coiled around the neck.
Jessie Lee believes China's long history of ceramics is both a cause for celebration and a curse for the country's contemporary artists.
During Susanne Silvertant's first trip to China in 2014, the 54-year-old Dutch ceramic artist made a set of porcelain vessels with the help of a Chinese monk.
My travels in China have had an enormous influence on my work as a Dutch ceramics artist.
There is so much we could learn from Delft. I first visited the city in 2003 with Chinese officials doing research for the first international ceramics fair in Jingdezhen the following year.