Kenya Airways’ inaugural flight departed from Nairobi hub at 23:59 Kenyan time and landed at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou City at 15:55 local time on Tuesday/MARGARET WAHITO
Kinyanjui told Capital FM Business that he was planning to hold a meeting in the next few weeks with the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed to push the idea.
He said an office in China’s third largest city would be crucial due to the high number of Kenyans residing there.
“I am seeing a growing number of Kenyans who are coming here for business. Guangzhou is a very important centre for Kenyan business people and hence the need to open an office for them,” Kinyanjui said in an interview.
“I have been here for only three months and so we are yet to get the exact number of Kenyans. But I’m aware it is one of the cities with the highest number of Kenyans,” he added.
He said the Kenyan Embassy which is based in Beijing, was also working with Chinese government to see a successful process.
Following the launch of the Kenya Airways (KQ) direct flights to Guangzhou, he noted, the number of Kenyan citizens may increase and deepen trade connections between Kenya and China.
Kenya Airways’ inaugural flight departed from Nairobi hub at 23:59 Kenyan time and landed at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou City at 15:55 local time on Tuesday.
The introduction of the non-stop flights between Nairobi and Guangzhou comes as trade and tourism connections between Kenya and the Far East strengthen.
“Kenya Airways newly acquired state of the art Boeing 777-300ER, is currently the biggest on the fleet with a capacity of 400 passengers,” KQ Chief Operating Officer Mbuvi Ngunze noted during the official launch in Four Seasons Hotel in Guangzhou.
At the moment Kenya is working towards cultivating China as a key source market.
“Our relationship with China is based on mutual respect and understanding and so I would not say that the growing relationship is only benefiting China. President Uhuru Kenyatta made a visit to China and there were many agreements which will see Kenya gain a lot from China,” Kinyanjui noted.
The Kenyan government is targeting at least 0.1 percent of China’s vast population of 1.3 billion people as tourists.
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