A Swahili proverb - Figa moja, haliinjiki chungu - states that it takes more than one person to get things done. Likewise, many international relations and economics pundits think Kenya needs both China and the US to achieve its development goals.
For a long time, 27-year-old Margaret Achieng from western Kenya held a deep fascination with China.
Kenya continues to play a significant role in promoting peace and security in East Africa. But the spillover from instability rocking its neighbors has had grave consequences for the country, including terrorist attacks, proliferation of weapons, and a large influx of refugees.
The scramble for Africa's natural resources such as land, oil and gas is pitting international powers against one another.
The growing importance of Kenya, and indeed sub-Saharan Africa, to the global economy magnifies the significance and implications of the divergent policy approaches of the United States and China toward the region.
On a factory floor in western China, where 2,000 workers hammer and drill at a line of half-built cars that stretches away like a traffic jam without end, a lone robot tirelessly applies sealant to windscreens.
Yun Tianzhi, 60, welcomed a new family member last month - a robot that does the cleaning. It was a gift from his son who emigrated to Canada four years ago.
Today, it's hard to imagine mass production, especially in automotive and other large-scale industries, without robotics. Yet when General Motors installed the very first robot, in 1961, it was as revolutionary as it was innovative, thanks to several key characteristics.
Half a century ago the first industrial robot, Unimate, was put to use at a General Motors plant, signifying the start of the third industrial revolution, and robots have been slowly replacing human workers in manufacturing operations ever since.
Raising capital for a startup has traditionally been one of the most difficult parts of getting the idea off the ground, but circumstances have greatly changed recently, and many Asian startups have become billion-dollar success stories.
When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang recently visited Zhongguancun, the technology district in Beijing often referred to as China's Silicon Valley, he was told that the startup job-listings website Lagou.com had helped more than 1 million IT workers land jobs since it was set up less than two years ago.
The number of frugal products and processes in Asia has grown rapidly recently, and emerging markets such as China are proving to be a breeding ground for new ideas.
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