President Hu Jintao met in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday with UN Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT) Executive Director Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka and UN Environment Program (UNEP) Acting Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel.

 

Hu said the UN-HABITAT has made positive efforts to promote human residence construction and global sustainable development.

 

He said the UNEP has played an important role in pushing for the solution of global environmental issues, promoting international cooperation in this regard, and helping developing countries improve environmental protection capability.

 

He said China has always supported international cooperation in the above-mentioned fields, and will further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the two UN programs and continue to support their work.

 

Tibaijuka said China has many beneficial experiences in human habitat development, which the UN-HABITAT is popularizing in other areas of the world.

 

The UN-HABITAT values China's assistance to the African people in this regard, she said.

 

Kakakhel said the UNEP appreciates China's attention to and efforts for environmental protection.

 

He said China has always firmly supported the UNEP's work, and the cooperation between the two sides has progressed steadily at bilateral, regional and global levels.

 

The UNEP is expecting to deepen cooperation with the Chinese side to jointly meet the challenge in this regard, he said.

 

Hu arrived here Thursday on a three-day state visit to Kenya as its President Mwai 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.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)