China and Kenya signed a series of agreements in Nairobi on Friday, including one that allows a Chinese oil producer to search for oil in the east African nation.

Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki witnessed the signing of the oil exploration agreement between Kenya and China National Offshore Oil Corporation(CNOOC).

In a statement posted on its website Friday, CNOOC Limited announced that its subsidiary, CNOOC Africa Limited has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) for six blocks in Kenya located in three basins of Lamu, Anza and Mandera, with a total area of 115,343 square kilometers.

Media reports say these areas are located in the north and south of Kenya, which produces no oil but has attracted foreign companies searching for possible reserves.

"If they discover oil we will go into production sharing agreements," Kenya's acting energy minister Henry Obwocha told Reuters, saying Chinese exploration would start soon. The exploration agreement covers 20 years, he said, giving no financial value for the deal.

The CNOOC statement says the exploration period of the PSCs will be divided into three phases and the company will take on an amount of work commitment during the period.

CNOOC says signing of these six PSCs indicates it has successfully extended its overseas exploration activities to East Africa. It says this vast area has attractive untapped exploration potential, although it is not yet a mature oil and gas producing area.

Zhu Mingcai, Vice President of the Company and General Manager of CNOOC International Limited said, "Growing exploration acreages are important for E&P companies. I believe that our presence in Kenya will be a significant step in pursuit of that target." 

The oil exploration deal and other agreements were signed as President Hu Jintao paid a two-day state visit to Kenya, the last stop of his five-nation tour. He has already been to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Nigeria.

Other bilateral co-operation documents signed cover economic links, trade, culture and education.

Trade between China and Kenya is growing rapidly. Bilateral trade volume was US$475 million last year, up 29.7 per cent year on year, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs.

During talks with his counterpart Mwai Kibaki, Hu said China sees Kenya as an important partner in Africa.

He proposed that high-level contact should be maintained between the two countries.

He added that they should increase trade and investment, and expand their partnership in such fields as culture, education, health, tourism, media, environmental protection and sports.

Kibaki agreed, saying that Kenya will maintain the traditional friendship with China and deepen co-operation. He hoped China would continue to support the realization of peace, stability and development in east Africa.

Analysts say co-operation with China has given Africa a bigger role in the world economy, displacing what many Africans call an unequal and debilitating relationship with Europe that has dominated the continent from the slave trade era to the present.

"China's investment in Africa has created a lot of job opportunities and boosted regional development," Kenyan Government spokesman Alfred Mutua told Xinhua.

He added: "While providing reliable and good-quality technology, China never attaches economic and technical aid to politics."

Co-operation in tourism has also made great strides, with the number of Chinese people visiting Kenya going up all the time. A total of 11,000 Chinese tourists visited Kenya in 2005, the year after China made Kenya one of its tourist destinations.

Meanwhile, the third session of the China-Kenya Joint Trade Committee was held on Friday during Hu's visit.

The meeting was hosted by Bo Xilai, China's minister of commerce, and Kenyan Minister of Trade and Industry Mukhisa Kituyi.

Kituyi stated that in order to boost bilateral trade and the economic relationship, the Kenyan Government announced it would recognize the market economy status of China.

Bo said the decision demonstrated the resolve of Kenya to pursue fair and equitable trade, and reaffirmed the friendship between the two countries.
 
Editor: Yan