Top Kenyan and Chinese officials are expected to gather today in Nairobi for a reader’s forum on the fifth volume of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Governance of China series.The forum is to help Kenyan readers have a better grasp of the fifth volume, which was published this July and distributed worldwide.Speeches by ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo, UDA secretary general Hassan Omar and Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi are expected to headline the event.The forum is hosted by the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China, China International Communications Group (CICG) and the Chinese Embassy in Kenya.
The event to be presided over by China’s ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan, is organised by China’s Foreign Languages Press and CICG Centre for Europe and Africa.“Representatives from political circles, think tanks, academia and media, along with youth delegates from both countries, are invited to attend the event,” a brief on the forum reads.It adds, ‘the fifth volume is designed to help officials and the public further understand and apply Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”CICG Vice President Yu Tao, deputy head of CPC Publicity Department Ma Gaoyi, and Radio Africa Group Editorial Director Paul Ilado are among the key speakers.The book aims to help officials build more confidence in China’s path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.It is also to guide them in the endeavours to uphold the core position of the ruling party and uphold its centralised and unified leadership — best known as the ‘two upholds’.
“It is to impress upon them the critical importance of affirming Xi’s core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the party as a whole, and affirming the guiding role of the thought,” the notes read.It is also intended that the book will keep the international community abreast of the latest developments in Xi’s thought and provide them with a better understanding of China’s vision, approaches and ideas.It also aims to create synergy for implementing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative.President Xi proposed the three initiatives as the guiding light for China and its efforts to work with friendly nations towards building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The book has 91 of Xi’s spoken and written works from May 2022 to December 2024, including speeches and writs, some being published for the first time.It also has 41 photos of the president’s activities during the period.Xi’s thought integrates the ideologies of Karl Marx as they play out in China’s realities and traditional culture. It represents Marxism applied to modern-day China.
“It is a sound guide to action for building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation through Chinese modernisation,” the authors say in the brief.The first four volumes explain the development of CPC and the Chinese nation and have been instrumental in explaining how China has grown, its philosophy of governance and its approach to governance.
Kenya and China’s ties go back 62 years, and were recently elevated to a higher level after Xi met with President William Ruto in April this year.The fruits of the meeting include the recently launched Rironi-Mau Summit highway and the forthcoming extension of the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba, among other goodies in the education and tourism sectors.
by MOSES OGADA
