• According to China's assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, the leaders agreed that cooperation between the two countries has been rewarding.
• Before the bilateral meeting, Ruto said Kenya, this year marks 60 years of warm, deep and dynamic friendship with the People's Republic of China.
Image: HANDOUT
President William Ruto and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held bilateral talks, on the sidelines of the Belt and Roads summit.
According to China's assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, the leaders agreed that cooperation between the two countries has been rewarding.
They also agreed to further strengthen the strategic working relationship between the two countries.
"Over the past decade, China and Kenya together built the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and the oil terminal at Port of Mombasa, among other projects," Chunying said.
Before the bilateral meeting, Ruto said Kenya, this year marks 60 years of warm, deep and dynamic friendship with the People's Republic of China.
He said it is this friendship that makes Kenya a key participant in the BRI and the GDI.
"This friendship has lasted from the difficult days of our liberation struggle, and the early days of independence, all the way to the present era of rapid socioeconomic development," Ruto said.
The president said BRI projects have greatly transformed connectivity within Kenya by making greater productivity and efficiency possible.
They have also transformed Kenya's connectivity regionally, facilitating cross-border trade and regional integration, he added.
"Kenya's overarching national development blueprint, Vision2030, Africa's Agenda 2063 and China's GDI are all aligned with global developmental initiatives and, especially, conducive to the attainment of sustainable development goals.
"The reason is that sustainable transformation must proceed from a robust infrastructural foundation, and the BRI established it."
President Xi who opened the summit said the Belt and Road Initiative has created new opportunities for global development, and built a new platform for international economic cooperation.
He said the Belt and Road cooperation has extended from the Eurasian continent to Africa and Latin America and that more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents.
Xi said Belt and Road cooperation has also expanded from just physical connectivity to institutional connectivity.
"Belt and Road cooperation has progressed from “sketching the outline” to “filling in the details”, and blueprints have been turned into real projects. A large number of signature projects and “small yet smart” people-centred programs have been launched," the China Head of State said.
Speaking during the Kenya-China investors roundtable in Beijing, China, President Ruto said talks have begun for the joint initiative in bid to improve flow of cargo and make the northern corridor competitive after the SGR stalled in Naivasha.
In seeking the viability of the railway after the initial financier, China, pulled out of the project, Kenya and Uganda in July this year announced they were seeking $6 billion to extend the railway.
President Ruto confirmed they are trying to bring China on board to complete one of the key Belt and Road Initiative projects in the country.
“Why we are discussing with China on extending the Standard Gauge Railway beyond Naivasha into Uganda, DRC, all the way to Congo Brazzaville is because we want to connect the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of Africa using the SGR,” President Ruto said.
“We have had conversations with the Presidents of Uganda, DRC and Congo Brazzaville and we have all agreed on the need to extend this piece of infrastructure as a means of facilitating trade across our continent and making sure companies like yourselves, who set up in Kenya, not only have access to the Kenyan market but also the Eastern African and continental market. We have made the decision that is the way to go,” Ruto told the investors, adding that the project will be a joint bid.
In the plan, the railway will extend to Kampala, Kasese to Mpondwe near the border with DR Congo. It will also head to Rwanda and South Sudan to make the northern corridor competitive.
President Ruto said the project will improve cargo transportation, where goods from Mombasa port to Uganda and on to DRC, Rwanda and South Sudan will be done by rail.
In July, Transport ministers Kipchumba Murkomen (Kenya) and Katumba Wamala ( Uganda) agreed to jointly source for financing, either in form of loans or a public-private partnership arrangement, for the project to resume.
Phase 2B from Naivasha to Kisumu is expected to cost Sh380 billion, while phase 2C, from Kisumu to Malaba, will take another Sh122.9 billion.