London, Nov. 11, 2019 (AltAfrica)-Kenya has signed an agreement with China that will allow it to export agricultural products to China.

The deal comes in the backdrop of the first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) being held in Shanghai.

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President Uhuru Kenyatta’s chief of staff Nzioka Waita announced the deal through his Twitter page which will incorporate sanitary and phytosanitary measures to enable export of farm produce.

Among the agricultural products lined up for export to china include avocado, French beans, flowers vegetables and peanuts.

“After a week of delicate negotiations, formal Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreements have been signed between Kenya and China for Kenya‘s Agricultural produce to enter the Chinese market,” Waita said on Twitter.

China has become Kenya’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 17 percent of Kenya’s annual trade by value or more than $4 billion.

The deal is expected to tilt the balance of trade scale in favor of Kenya to boost income from its exports by tapping China as a key export market.

Horticulture and flower exports are a key foreign exchange earner for Kenya which raked in $1.13B in 2017.

Europe has been a key market for Kenya which is now looking to diversify.

The agreement comes less than a week after China’s president Xi Jinping met with President Kenyatta.

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