Shared Market & Future: Kenya hopes to narrow trade imbalance at the event

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Kenya is one of the only two African countries whose heads of state will be attending the event. It's an opportunity to not just present their exports to an international audience, but attract investment too. CGTN's Wilkister Nyabwa has more on Kenya.

WILKISTER NYABWA SYOKIMAU, KENYA "It is a well-known fact that China is Africa's largest trading partner, investing in monumental projects such as Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway. China is now taking this relationship forward, creating a forum where Africa can market its products to investors in China."

Kenyan government officials and the heads of several Chinese companies have met in Nairobi, ahead of the China International Import Expo. They've discussed some of the products and services that Kenya will be looking to promote in Shanghai. One of them is tourism.

LI XUHANG ACTING CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO KENYA "Last year we had about 170 million Chinese tourists going abroad. But only 70,000 come to Kenya. Maybe this year we can get 100,000, but even 100,000 is less."

But Kenya isn't only looking to attract tourists. The country also wants to address the trade imbalance, by taking advantage of China's growing population to grow its enterprises.

CHRISTOPHER CHIKA ASIA AFFAIRS HEAD, KENYAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY "The gap between what we can export versus what we can import is so huge that we can never narrow this gap as long as we are just exporters of products with very little value-addition. So by them investing in our export sector they are helping us diversify."

GUO CE, COMMERCIAL COUNSELLOR CHINESE EMBASSY IN KENYA "Kenya's government believes CIIE is important to open the market. Kenya wants to export agricultural product, you know the avocado and maybe the others, coffee, tea to China."

Kenya is already benefiting from Chinese companies' knowledge and skills transfer in several industries. The expo will offer even more opportunities for Kenyan enterprises to gain a foothold in the huge Chinese market. Wilkister Nyabwa, CGTN, S, K.