President Ruto's China visit ends with major infrastructure deals

President William Ruto concluded his four-day State Visit to China with a tour of research institutions and cultural sites in Fujian Province on the south-east coast of the country.

The President began the day's activities by visiting the Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited (CATL) headquarters in Ningde City.

Through the visit, President Ruto appreciated the global leadership of the organisation in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries in just a little over a decade.

The company's novel applications in green energy have revolutionised motor transport, empowered thousands of enterprises with electrification solutions, and cut carbon emissions in the process.

President Ruto then visited the Ningde Poverty Alleviation Exhibition Hall, a model in efforts to reduce poverty.

"This is a clear demonstration of the possibilities that can be achieved through modernisation through coordination and synergy in leadership," he said when he addressed the local media at the end of the tour.

The President commended the foresight and persistence of Ningde's present and past leaders, including President Xi Jinping, for pulling the hilly metropolis from grinding poverty within a generation.

President Xi Jinping is largely credited with transforming the fortunes of Ningde when he worked there as a young administrator in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

His experiences in Ningde City are thought to have widely influenced his book, "Xi Jinping Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era."

President Ruto then visited The Exhibition on the 30th Anniversary Achievements of Xi Jinping's "Vision 3820" Strategic Plan for Fuzhou City.

The exhibition showcases President Xi's social democracy model of governance, which has lifted millions of people out of poverty in China.

Integrating economic expansion, social transformation, and environmental conservation, the model has fostered inclusive growth for the people of China.

Later, he also visited the Fujian Academy of Building Research, a scientific innovation institution under the Fujian Construction Investment Group (FCIC) in Fuzhou.

FCIC has successfully delivered some major construction projects in Kenya, including the Turbi-Moyale Road (Marsabit) and the Central Bank of Kenya Pension Fund office block.

The President concluded his successful visit to China by touring the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys Historic District in Fuzhou, which preserves and showcases the country's cultural heritage from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

He was accompanied by First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya's envoy to China Willy Bett, and China's ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan.