{"id":354763,"date":"2026-03-24T02:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T02:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/354763\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T02:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T02:35:12","slug":"kindiki-pushes-china-exports-drive-to-cut-kenyas-sh500bn-trade-deficit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/354763\/","title":{"rendered":"Kindiki pushes China exports drive to cut Kenya\u2019s Sh500bn trade deficit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki speaking at the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi on March 23, 2026\/ DPCS<\/p>\n

Kenya is looking to expand trade with China in order to cut the
\ntrade deficit, which currently stands at slightly over 500 billion shillings,
\nDeputy President Kithure Kindiki has said.<\/p>\n

The DP said the two countries have enjoyed stronger relations
\nsince Kenya gained independence in 1963, but the trade deficit has remained
\nwide. He pushed for exploitation of new business frontiers to close the gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur shared objective is to expand Kenya\u2019s
\nexports to the Chinese market, particularly value-added agricultural products,
\nscale up the value chain, increase manufacturing cooperation, and strive to move
\ntowards a more balanced trade between our two economies,\u201d DP said.<\/p>\n

The Deputy President spoke on Monday when he
\naddressed the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi, also attended by
\nChina Vice President Han Zheng.<\/p>\n

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki with China Vice President Han Zheng at the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi on March 23, 2026\/ DPCS<\/p>\n

Prof. Kindiki said targeted interventions in
\nagriculture have increased production in the key subsectors such as coffee,
\ntea, avocados, macadamia, and others calling for more focus on these areas to
\nimprove exports to the Asian country.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenya has the best coffee in the world, the best tea in the
\nworld. Kenya is the largest producer of avocados in Africa and the second-largest producer of macadamia in the continent.\u00a0I would like to request our Chinese friends to consider
\nincreasing their imports of coffee, tea, avocados, nuts, fish, and fish products,
\namong others,\u201d DP stated.<\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s exports to China stand at USD 0.21 billion and imports
\nfrom China at USD 4.32 billion, creating a trade deficit of around USD 4
\nbillion.<\/p>\n

In a bid to address this, President Ruto and his Chinese
\ncounterpart Xi Jinping signed a Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for
\nShared Development in April 2025 that will see Kenyan products get access to
\nthe huge Chinese market at zero tariff from May 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki with China Vice President
\nHan Zheng, among other leaders at the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi on March 23,
\n2026\/ DPCS<\/p>\n

The DP challenged the private sector to take advantage of the
\nzero-tariff agreement, saying access to the 1.4 billion people of China has been
\nmade easier and more valuable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to exploiting to the maximum the gesture
\nof the zero-tariff opportunity to take our tariffs to Kenya,\u201d DP noted.<\/p>\n

Later, the Deputy President together with the Vice President
\nflagged-off the first consignment of exports to China set to benefit from the
\nzero-tariff agreement at the Nairobi Railway Terminus.<\/p>\n

Prof. Kindiki said the first cargo\u00a0symbolized the growing
\neconomic cooperation between Kenya and China and the expanding opportunities
\nfor Kenyan exporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to seeing many more Kenyan products reaching
\nChinese consumers in the years ahead and advancing our shared priorities in
\ntrade, investment, and sustainable development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki with China Vice President
\nHan Zheng at the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi on March 23,
\n2026\/DPCS<\/p>\n

The initial consignment comprised of 54 containers carrying
\navocados, avocado oil, hides and skins, coffee beans, dry grains, pet pellets,
\nand recycling materials.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Deputy President appreciated China\u2019s
\ncontribution to the growth of the country\u2019s infrastructure, noting the
\nadvancement in the Kenyan railway sector, which has been achieved through the
\nAsian nation\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cooperation between Kenya and China under the Belt and Road
\nInitiative has contributed significantly to improving logistics and transport
\nnetworks, including the development of the Standard Gauge Railway, which has
\nstrengthened the movement of goods between production centers, the port of
\nMombasa, and global markets,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

The SGR is set to be extended to Kisumu and Malaba in the coming
\ndays through a similar initiative.<\/p>\n

China Vice President
\nHan Zheng speaking at the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi on March 23,
\n2026\/ DPCS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deputy President Kithure Kindiki speaking at the High-Level Kenya-China Business Forum in Nairobi on March 23, 2026\/ DPCS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,1657,9690,172243,184,172242,85,46,145861,172241,172245,4952,22610,19885,168647,132646,172244,18799,19886,145860,19884],"class_list":["post-354763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-china","tag-coffee","tag-dp-kindiki","tag-economy","tag-gricultural-produce","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-kenya-news","tag-kenyas-exports","tag-macadamia","tag-star","tag-star-news","tag-star-news-kenya","tag-star-newspaper","tag-star-newspaper-kenya","tag-sub-sectors","tag-tea","tag-the-star","tag-the-star-kenya","tag-the-star-newspaper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}