Kenya to exhibit at China's import expo in Shanghai from 5 to 10 November

Kenya will exhibit at the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, which runs from 5 to 10 November 2026, through a country pavilion and the trade-in-services section, China Daily reported on 24 June. Kenya is this year's "Export to China" theme country at the expo, Xinhua reported on 23 June.

Xinhua reported on 28 July that the expo will upgrade its Asia-Africa product zone to help exhibitors from African countries that have diplomatic ties with China use China's zero-tariff treatment. At a briefing in Shanghai on 27 July, Wu Zhengping, Party secretary and deputy director of the China International Import Expo Bureau, said 57 countries and three international organisations had confirmed national pavilions. He said Moldova, Romania and the United Nations Development Programme will exhibit for the first time.

In a piece marking one month to opening, Xinhua said on 5 October that the CIIE supports least developed and developing countries through arrangements such as free booths and green customs clearance. The fair is held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai.

Kenya's plans were set out at a seminar in Nairobi on 23 June, themed "Sharing the Vast Chinese Market, Exporting to China". Erick Rutto, president of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), said Kenya's participation offers access to "one of the world's most influential trading platforms", Xinhua reported. He said Kenya will send exhibitors showing avocados, macadamia nuts, tea, coffee, sesame and selected horticultural goods. Hua Wei, president of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), said nearly 80 Kenyan companies had exhibited at the expo since its first edition.

The chamber said on 23 June that it had met the CIIE delegation, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Stanbic Bank Kenya at its secretariat to discuss collaboration. The partners agreed to work together on "a successful Kenyan participation", it said. The delegation was led by Zhou Zhencheng, minister counselor at the Chinese embassy in Kenya, and included Jia Liu, deputy chief representative of ICBC Africa.

Lucy Muchoki, the chamber's director of partnerships and programs, said Kenya exported 6.7 tonnes of avocados to China in May and had set a target of tripling the volume as demand grows, China Daily reported.

According to China Daily, Zhou said the expo had become a powerful platform for expanding market access, strengthening global cooperation and supporting China's drive to increase imports and promote more balanced trade. "China's continued high-level opening-up will create new opportunities for countries around the world," he said.

The State Council Customs Tariff Commission announced on 28 April that from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028 China will apply zero tariffs, at preferential rates, to 20 African countries that have diplomatic ties with China and are not least developed countries, Xinhua reported. For tariff-quota products, only the in-quota rate falls to zero and the out-of-quota rate is unchanged. For the 33 African least developed countries with diplomatic ties, China has applied zero tariffs to 100 per cent of tariff lines since 1 December 2024.

Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan said at a reception in Nairobi on 30 September, marking the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, that Kenya's avocado oil exports to China had risen by 700 per cent since Beijing introduced zero tariffs, The Star reported on 1 October. Guo said exports of aquatic products, including sea cucumbers, had increased by 350 per cent, and coffee exports had nearly doubled by the end of August.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) put Kenya's exports to China at KSh 16.9 billion in 2025, down from KSh 26.3 billion in 2024, in its 2026 Economic Survey, Business Daily reported on 3 May. Imports from China were KSh 671.2 billion, and the trade deficit with China was KSh 654.3 billion.