Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kenyan President William Ruto shake hands during a signing ceremony at The Great Hall of The People on April 24, 2025 in Beijing, China
By Reuters
Kenya has finalised negotiations over a trade deal with China, two months after announcing a preliminary agreement that would grant the East African country duty-free access to the Chinese market, President William Ruto said on Wednesday.
In January Kenya said the preliminary deal would give 98% of its exports duty-free access to the large Chinese market.
East Africa’s biggest economy has been forging closer ties with China, with Ruto making a state visit to Beijing last year during which a number of financing and cooperation agreements were signed. The two countries’ bilateral trade is currently heavily tilted in favour of China.
“We have this week finalised negotiations with the Government of the People’s Republic of China on a bilateral trade agreement,” Ruto told a conference aimed at attracting international investment.
Kenya is also a close ally of Washington and is negotiating a separate bilateral trade accord with the Trump administration.
Ruto has defended his administration’s courting of China against criticism from some U.S. officials, saying Kenya has to export more goods to the huge Asian economy to close the trade gap.
Ruto said on Wednesday that the Kenyan economy had been resilient in the past year, with inflation and the shilling currency stable.
Foreign direct investment exceeded $2 billion for the first time in 2025, up over 15% on the previous year, he added.