President Hu Jintao and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki agreed in Nairobi yesterday to make joint efforts to further promote bilateral long-term, stable and reciprocal cooperation in various fields.

 

During their talks, Hu expressed his satisfaction with the continuous development of bilateral relations and said China attaches great importance to bilateral relations and takes Kenya as an important cooperative partner in Africa.

 

To enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields, Hu made a four-point proposal:

• To keep high-level contacts, strengthen personnel exchanges, maintain exchanges of views on issues of common concern such as governance, economic development, improvement of people's lives, and international and regional issues, and strengthen coordination and cooperation in the multi-lateral arena such as the UN
• To actively implement bilateral cooperative agreements on expanding trade and investment, and promote cooperation in processing trade, agriculture and development of human resources
• To expand cooperation in such fields as culture, education, health, tourism, media, environmental protection and sports
• To strengthen cooperation within the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and make joint efforts to ensure a success of the forum's meeting scheduled for November this year in Beijing

Kibaki agreed with Hu, saying that the Kenyan side will keep the traditional friendship with China and deepen bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

 

Hu spoke highly of Kenya's positive role in East African affairs.

 

Kibaki said he hoped that China will continue to support the realization of peace, stability and development in East Africa.

 

He said Kenya supports the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and will strengthen cooperation with China to push forward the development of the forum.

 

After the talks, the two presidents attended a signing ceremony for bilateral cooperative documents covering economy, trade, culture and education.

 

Hu arrived here Thursday on a three-day state visit to Kenya as Kibaki's guest.

 

Kenya is the last leg of Hu's five-nation tour, which has already taken him to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Nigeria.

 

China and Kenya set up diplomatic relations in 1963 and bilateral trade volume last year amounted to US$475 million, up 29.7 percent year-on-year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)