China–Kenya relations

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Sino–Kenyan relations
Map indicating locations of China and Kenya

China
Kenya

China–Kenya relations refer to the bilateral relations between China and Kenya.

Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Yi meeting with Jomo Kenyatta on his visit to Kenya in February 1964

Political ties[]

This bilateral relations date back to 14 December 1963, two days after the formal establishment of Kenyan independence, when China became the fourth country to open an embassy in Nairobi.[1] Military exchange between the two countries has been increasing in the past decade. General , commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, led China's first military delegation to Kenya in December 1996; Major General , commander of the Kenya Air Force, paid a return visit in 1997.[2] Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki visited Beijing in August 2005.[3]

In 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta visited China. He held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Kenya and China ended up signing deals worth (US$5 billion).[4]

Chinese premier Li Keqiang visited Nairobi on his 2014 Africa tour. He and President Kenyatta signed 17 multi-billion-shilling deals to fund multiple infrastructural projects and various agreements. This included the establishment of a China-Africa Development Bank.[5]

Economic ties[]

See also: Economy of Kenya and Kenya and the World Bank
Countries which signed cooperation documents related to the Belt and Road Initiative

Bilateral trade amounted to US$186.37 million in 2002; China exported US$180.576 million to Kenya, while only importing US$5.798 million of Kenyan goods, mainly black tea, coffee, and leather.[2]

Early in 2006 Chinese President Hu Jintao signed an oil exploration contract with Kenya; the latest in a series of deals designed to expand Chinese overseas economic engagement with Africa. The deal allowed for China's state-controlled offshore oil and gas company, CNOOC Ltd., to prospect for oil in Kenya, which is just beginning to drill its first exploratory wells on the borders of Sudan and Somalia and in coastal waters. No oil has been produced yet, and there has been no formal estimate of the possible reserves.[6]

In April 2007, the Jinchuan Group, a state-owned metal manufacturing group, became the first Chinese company to enter Kenya's mining sector, purchasing a 20% stake in .[7]

Incidences of racism by Chinese expatriates accompanying Chinese investments in Kenya towards black Kenyans has been a source of recent controversy.[8][9][10][11] This has negatively impacted bilateral relations between the two countries.[8]

Debt financing[]

Between 2006 and 2017, Kenya has taken large loans of at least $9.8 billion (Sh1043.77 billion) from China.[12] Chinese debt accounts of 72% of overall foreign debt.[13]
China lent Kenya extensive loans of more than $5 billion[14] to build a standard gauge railway (commonly referred to as SGR), between Mombasa and Nairobi and highways in Kenya.[15][16] In November 2017, the Kenyan Auditor warned that the terms of SGR financing were written cryptically and designed to favor the China Exim Bank and said that if the Kenya Railways Corporation defaults in its obligations, the China Exim Bank would become a principle over some Kenyan assets, including the Mombasa port. In addition to the Mombasa port, Kenya could also be made to give China control of the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi.[14] In 2018, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyata banned Chinese fish imports in response to public outcry over the unregulated importation of fish from China with Kenyan fishermen lamenting on how the foreign fish had flooded markets.[17] The Chinese government use the Standard Gauge Railway as leverage against Kenya by threatening to completely pull funding for the project as well as threatening to impose trade sanctions.[18] The Kenyan government soon after lifted the ban of Chinese fish imports.[19]

According to Taiwan news, the Kenyan government waived the sovereign immunity of its largest and most lucrative port, the Port of Mombasa, to be used as collateral for Chinese loans to construct the Standard Gauge Railway. It was rumoured in late December 2018 that Kenya may soon face default on Chinese loans, and hence force Kenya to relinquish control of the port to China.[20][21] However the national Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani responded to the rumours and denied that Nairobi had ever used Mombasa port as collateral to get the loan for the Standard gauge railway, and said that even if his country defaults on the loan, China will not seize the port.[22][23]

The Kenyan media has debated whether Chinese loans are worth the risk of falling into "debt traps", drawing analogies with § Sri Lanka's Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port deal, and some commentators have argued that these loans could jeopardize Kenyan sovereignty.[15][24]

In February 2021, China postponed $245 million of Kenyan debt repayments for 6 months, a week after the Paris Club had offered similar relief, as the country struggles with the economic impact of COVID-19.[25]

Chinese development finance to Kenya[]

From 2000 to 2011, there are approximately 65 Chinese official development finance projects identified in Kenya through various media reports.[26] These projects range from a US$108 million grant from Chinese government to build the North and East Ring Road sections in Nairobi,[27] to a concessional loan to finance the construction of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital Project in 2011.[28]

Cultural ties[]

PRC state-owned China Radio International has operated radio station CRI Nairobi 91.9 FM since 2006.

See also[]

  • China-Africa relations
  • Chinese people in Kenya

References[]

  1. ^ "Kenya, China Mark 40-year Diplomatic Ties". Xinhua News Agency. 2003-12-11. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  2. ^ a b "Kenya: Bilateral Relations". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. 2003-10-12. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  3. ^ "China to promote cooperation with Kenya: Chinese premier". People's Daily. 2005-08-19. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  4. ^ "Kenya's Kenyatta and China's Xi sign $5bn deals". BBC. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  5. ^ "Kenya signs 17 multi-billion deals with China". Business Daily. 2014-05-10. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  6. ^ Barber, Lionel; Andrew England (August 10, 2006). "China's scramble for Africa finds a welcome in Kenya". Financial Times. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  7. ^ Onyango, Jim; Allan Odhiambo (2007-10-30). "Kenya: Attention Shifts to China After Latest Catch". Business Daily, Nairobi. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  8. ^ a b Goldstein, Joseph (2018-10-15). "Kenyans Say Chinese Investment Brings Racism and Discrimination". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  9. ^ Ellyatt, Holly (2018-10-16). "Chinese investment into Kenya is reportedly bringing racism and discrimination with it". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  10. ^ Nairobi, Juliet Okoth, University of. "Kenya must face up to rising claims of racial discrimination by Chinese against locals". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  11. ^ "The racist face of the Chinese presence in Africa". DW.COM. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  12. ^ Hairsine, Kate (18 October 2019). "Kenya struggles to manage debt for railway to 'nowhere'". DW.
  13. ^ "Kenya: caught between debt and political indifference". Committee for the abolitionof illegitimate det. 21 March 2022.
  14. ^ a b Jacques, Jeremiah (25 December 2019). "Kenya: The Next Nation to Fall Into China's Debt-Trap Diplomacy?". The Trumpet.
  15. ^ a b "KISERO: Kenya must avoid China debt trap or fall into Sri Lanka". Daily Nation. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  16. ^ "Chinese company helps build new railway in Kenya". africa.chinadaily.com.cn. China Daily. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  17. ^ Mumbi, Mutuko. "President Uhuru Kenyatta Bans Chinese Fish From Kenyan Market". www.kenyans.co.ke.
  18. ^ Oruko, Michael Ollinga (31 October 2018). "China threatens to stop SGR funding after Kenya bans Chinese fish imports". Tuko.co.ke - Kenya news.
  19. ^ Roberto, Muyela (2 November 2018). "Government lifts ban on Chinese fish imports". Tuko.co.ke - Kenya news.
  20. ^ "China's African Debt-trap: Beijing Prepares to Seize Kenya's Port of Mombasa". Taiwan News. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  21. ^ BCNN1 (29 December 2018). "China's African Debt-trap: Beijing Prepares to Seize Kenya's Port of Mombasa | BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network". Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  22. ^ Olingo, Allan (2021-11-27). "Africa: China Loan Binge Starts to Bite - the U.S, EU Hope to Gain From Fallout". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  23. ^ https://www.the-star.co.ke/authors/vidija. "Yatani: Mombasa port not at risk of takeover by Chinese government". The Star. Retrieved 2021-12-22. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  24. ^ "Debt diplomacy threat to sovereignty". www.mediamaxnetwork.co.ke. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  25. ^ "China's Debt-trap Diplomacy? Beijing Delays Kenya's $245 Million Debt in 'Repayment Holiday'". News18. 2021-02-16. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  26. ^ Austin Strange, Bradley C. Parks, Michael J. Tierney, Andreas Fuchs, Axel Dreher, and Vijaya Ramachandran. 2013. China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection. CGD Working Paper 323. Washington DC: Center for Global Development.http://china.aiddata.org[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/202
  28. ^ Strange, Parks, Tierney, Fuchs, Dreher, and Ramachandran, China’s Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection.http://aiddatachina.org/projects/1290
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