A China-Kenya photo exhibition opened Tuesday in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to mark two years since a comprehensive cooperative partnership signed between the two nations.
The partnership agreement, signed during President Uhuru Kenyatta's visit to China in August, 2013, aims to enhance mutual trust and win-win cooperation.
The exhibition, which will run for one month, consists of over 50 photos highlighting the milestones of bilateral ties in political, economic and cultural fields in the past two years.
"I believe the exhibition will be a window of opportunity for Kenyans and the Chinese community in Kenya, especially the youth, to better understand the past, present and future of China-Kenya relationship," said Liu Xianfa, Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, during the launching ceremony.
Communication between the two peoples dates back to over 600 years ago when Chinese navigator Zheng He led the Ming Dynasty's fleet of trading ships to the East African coast, Liu said.
And China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with Kenya after its independence in 1963.
Liu noted China is ready to work closely with Kenya in areas including agricultural modernization, infrastructure, manufacturing, environment protection, cultural tourism and security.
Hassan Wario, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Arts, said the exhibition would help boost people-to-people exchanges between the two.
The official revealed that China would finance the construction of a Chinese cultural center in Nairobi.
"The center, which will be completed in the next two years, will host Chinese culture in Kenya," said Wario. "It will help to enhance cultural cooperation between the two countries, which has lagged behind the pace of commercial ties."
Official figures show trade between China and Kenya hit 5.09 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up 53 percent from the previous year, with China being Kenya's largest source of financing and second largest trade partner.
In the first half of 2015, bilateral trade reached 2.9 billion U.S. dollars.
