China is ready to negotiate a trade deal with the six-nation East Africa Community (EAC) to address Kenya’s complaints about a huge trade imbalance in favour of the Asian economic giant, China’s ambassador to Nairobi told Reuters.
Kenyan officials said the government was not ready to discuss a free trade agreement as it fears a surge of imports from China but that a partial deal might be possible.
Chinese ambassador Wu Peng said Beijing was ready to open trade talks with Kenya via the EAC, which also includes Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, guided by World Trade Organisation rules.
“If we want a new, favourable trade agreement for Kenya, we must consider the whole area. But we are open to this task, this possibility, and we are ready to talk with the EAC together,” Wu said in an interview.
China has become one of the biggest trading partners for many East African countries but their exports to the world’s second-biggest economy are dwarfed by imports of manufactured goods like electronics and plant equipment.
Kenya imported goods worth 370.8 billion shillings ($3.67 billion) from China last year while exporting just 11.32 billion shillings of goods there.
Nairobi wants to export more farm products, like avocados, to China. The two nations have completed a protocol opening up frozen avocado exports to China but exports of fresh avocados are still blocked due to bio-safety concerns.
“I’m pushing it very hard and maybe it just needs scientific assistance to Kenyan farmers,” Wu said.
