{"id":122,"date":"2025-04-24T14:01:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122"},"modified":"2025-04-24T14:01:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:01:56","slug":"kenyan-president-visits-china-as-country-pivots-away-from-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties between the nations. Ruto&#8217;s first state visit to China since taking office in 2022 is being viewed by some as a strategic shift amid evolving geopolitical dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ruto is expected to seek funding for key infrastructure projects, including the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Malaba and a major highway project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Asake - Organise (Official Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_u4_iWCvZ5c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Deals worth \u20ac750 million have already been secured from seven Chinese companies, aimed at boosting Kenya&#8217;s manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors, according to Kenyan newspaper&nbsp;<em>The Standard<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trade between China and Kenya is on the rise, with a reported 11.9 percent increase in the first quarter of 2025. China is Kenya&#8217;s largest trading partner and top import source, while&nbsp;Kenya&nbsp;is China&#8217;s biggest trade partner in East Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Xi Jinping is scheduled to host a welcome ceremony and banquet for Ruto, with discussions focused on strengthening cooperation within the Global South. Ruto has also expressed Kenya&#8217;s interest in joining the&nbsp;BRICS&nbsp;intergovernmental group of emerging economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faced with stalled funding from the United States and trade friction, Kenya has turned to&nbsp;China, according to analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adhere Cavince, a Nairobi-based international relations researcher, quoted by Hong Kong&#8217;s&nbsp;<em>South China Morning Post<\/em>, says that US tariffs and reduced aid have pushed Ruto to seek new markets and investment from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cavince sees Ruto&#8217;s visit as a &#8220;symbolic&#8221; win for Beijing. &#8220;Beijing&#8217;s hosting of Ruto amid escalating geopolitical and trade tensions with the US is a win for China in terms of optics,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Nairobi is not just an option [for China], it is also a strong gateway to the rest of Africa.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chinese foreign ministry said the visit will &#8220;contribute to deepening China\u2019s relations with Kenya&#8221; and promote &#8220;solidarity and cooperation&#8221; within the Global South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 8 April, US President Donald Trump imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on Kenya, as part of a wide range of import tax measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Six days later, Beijing&#8217;s embassy in Nairobi took to X (formerly Twitter) to post an image of Communist China&#8217;s founder Mao Zedong and his 1946 remark that: &#8220;The US intimidates certain countries, stopping them from doing business with us. But America is just a paper tiger. Don&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s bluff. One poke, and it&#8217;ll burst.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Kenya is also pivoting away from European investors. On 11 April, Reuters reportedthat Nairobi will terminate a \u20ac1.3 billion highway expansion deal with a consortium led by France&#8217;s Vinci SA,&nbsp;with the project expected to go to a Chinese contractor instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deal to turn 140km of single-lane road into a multilane highway linking the capital Nairobi to the Rift Valley city of Nakuru was signed in Paris in 2020, during a visit by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/africa\/20250423-kenyan-president-visits-china-as-country-pivots-away-from-the-us\">(RFI)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties between the nations. Ruto&#8217;s first state visit to China since taking office in 2022 is being viewed by some as a strategic shift amid evolving geopolitical dynamics. Ruto is expected to seek funding for key [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[182,55,183,185,57,181,184],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign","tag-china","tag-donald-trump","tag-kenya","tag-trade","tag-united-states","tag-william-ruto","tag-xi-jinping"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US - Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-24T14:01:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-24T14:01:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"284\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"177\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\"},\"headline\":\"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-24T14:01:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-24T14:01:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122\"},\"wordCount\":510,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"China\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Kenya\",\"trade\",\"United States\",\"William Ruto\",\"Xi Jinping\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Foreign\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122\",\"name\":\"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US - Tona Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-24T14:01:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-24T14:01:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg\",\"width\":284,\"height\":177},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=122#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":117,\"caption\":\"Tona Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\",\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tona.Today\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US - Tona Today","description":"Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US - Tona Today","og_description":"Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties","og_url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122","og_site_name":"Tona Today","article_published_time":"2025-04-24T14:01:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-24T14:01:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":284,"height":177,"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tona.Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tona.Today","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122"},"author":{"name":"Tona.Today","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477"},"headline":"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US","datePublished":"2025-04-24T14:01:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-24T14:01:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122"},"wordCount":510,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg","keywords":["China","Donald Trump","Kenya","trade","United States","William Ruto","Xi Jinping"],"articleSection":["Foreign"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122","name":"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US - Tona Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-24T14:01:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-24T14:01:56+00:00","description":"Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/William-Ruto-and-Xi-Jinping.jpg","width":284,"height":177},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=122#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tona.today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","name":"Tona Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization","name":"Tona Today","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","width":500,"height":117,"caption":"Tona Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477","name":"Tona.Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tona.Today"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tona.today"],"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?author=2"}]}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions\/124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}