As more than 35,000 people face job losses in Kenya over the US aid freeze announced by President Donald Trump, China has pledged support for development plans in Kenya.
Speaking at the Chinese embassy in Nairobi, Chinese ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan said the future of the world must not be defined by any single power but by all nations and people.
China and Africa are home to 2.8 billion people, a huge market for trade between the two regions, she noted.
“We will remain steadfast in mutual respect and equality, support each other in pursuing development paths suited to respective national conditions and jointly advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation,” ambassador Haiyan said.
She spoke during the Xinhua’s News Photo Exhibition dubbed “Lens of Xinhua: Images of the Century” co-hosted by the Xinhua News Agency and the Chinese Embassy.
This is key for Kenya’s development.
The aids freeze announced by the Trump administration has seen over 35,000 workers in Kenya lose jobs, and 150 clinics close down following the 90-day suspension of the United States Agency for International Development.
This has affected 72,000 HIV patients who depended on the donor funds for crucial medication, according to Faith Ndungu, an advocacy manager at Hennet.
The 72,000 population is a strong workforce should it be rendered too sick to work.
On Thursday, ambassador Haiyan said cooperation for shared development and community with shared future are irreversible trends that guide future sustainable development especially for the global south.
“Isolationism and crystal policies are destined to fail,” she said.
Haiyan said the world is faced with four major deficits peace, development, security and governance.
China, she said, has consistently championed the vision of a community with shared future for mankind, upholding the principles of equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation.
She noted this is while a few countries are trying to cook industrial chain disruptions, flouting multinational rules and reversing globalisation.
“We mean what we say and we honour our commitments,” she said.
During the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing last September, China President Xi Jinping announced 10 partnership actions between China and African countries.
Later in November, President Xi outlined China’s eight major initiatives to support global governments at the G20 Summit.
“As President Xi stated, China can only do well when the world is doing well. When China does well, the world will get even better. We firmly believe that genuine progress of the international community is never a zero-some game for survival but a journey of solidarity and shared endeavour,” Haiyan said.
Yuan Bingzhong, the deputy director and vice president of Xinhua News Agency, said the photo exhibition shows China’s remarkable journey of sustainable development since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Bingzhong said that could be replicated in many developing countries and prove key to self-sustainable development.
“Beyond documenting the past, these images also inspire us to look towards the future. As the world continues to evolve, so does our responsibility to foster understanding and cooperation across nations in the world,” Bingzhong said.
He said an example of the fruit of the China-Kenya friendship and cooperation is the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR, a Belt and Road Initiative, which have brought significant benefits to local communities and Kenya’s economic growth.
“As President Ruto said, the more we connect, the more we associate and the more we share,” Bingzhong said.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who on January 29 in Mombasa said the American president’s move is a wakeup call to African nations.
“I saw some people the other day crying that Trump has removed funding, he is not giving us any more money. Why are you crying? It is not your government; it is not your country,” he said.
“You don’t pay taxes in America. This is a wake-up call for you to say, ‘okay what are we going to do to help ourselves?’ Nobody is going to continue holding out a hand there to give you. It is time for us to use our resources for the right things,” he said.
Xinhua’s News Photo Exhibition covers various historical periods of development and reform of China and focuses on a series of major events and key nodes that have gone down in history from the perspective of journalism and social changes.
It reflects the 75-year glorious course of China’s sustainable development.
The exhibition featured 105 selected photographs by Xinhua News Agency, which reflect people’s lives and economic and social changes from the perspective of “the world, the people and the country”, and vividly demonstrate China’s modernization with a broad historical background.
