China and Kenya have built and maintained solid relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1963, and Kenya is set to play an important role in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta remarked during an interview with CGTN's Beatrice Marshall.

Kenyatta expressed belief that the BRI means a lot to Africa.

"What is its (the BRI's) objective? The objective is to open the economy, to encourage trade among us, to connect Asia, parts of Europe and some Arabic states," the Kenyan president said, "The initiative also links the African continent from the East all the way to the West."

Kenyatta stressed Kenya is very keen to set up stronger ties with China under the initiative, and spoke highly of China's active role in the funding of the project.

"Our friends in China have given us a huge assistance. Since China has been strongly involved in Kenya and Africa, you could see a tremendous growth of infrastructure across the continent," he said.

The Kenyan president said the country will also seek cooperation with other developing partners to introduce a mixture of financial packages into his country's infrastructure projects.