Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Kenya between January 4 and 7, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian confirmed on Thursday, December 30.
Chinese Foreign Ministers have a long standing 31-year tradition of choosing to visit Africa as their first overseas trip in a new year.
Wang's visit will be the 32nd year in a row that a Chinese foreign minister will start their year's diplomatic activities with a visit to Africa.
In 2021, Wang Yi started his diplomatic trips with a visit to five African countries — Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles.
"China's diplomatic tradition fully demonstrates the deep friendship between China and Africa that has withstood the test of time and grown even stronger," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during the routine press briefing.
"Africa and China are not only comrades-in-arms in the fight against hegemony, but also partners in development and revitalization and important forces in defending international fairness and justice," Lijian said.
In 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang Yi made an unexpected stopover in Kenya as Nairobi sought support for its attempt to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, in preference to Djibouti.
Kenya was not on the original itinerary for Yi's Africa tour, which was scheduled to include Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Burundi and Zimbabwe.
After visiting Kenya Yi will continue his tour of Africa to Eritrea and Comoros.