(Reprinted from Hunan Tourism Group Public Account) Local time in Kenya: May 8th to 10th. Yang Hongwei, Party Secretary and Chairman of Hunan Tourism Group (HNTG), led a business delegation to Kenya to attend the 2024 China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) during the Kenya Special Session. The group participated in various activities, including the Conference on China-Africa Investment and Trade Promotion Cooperation (CAITPC) & the Kenya International Investment Conference (KIIC), and Hunan Province State-owned Enterprises Africa Business Development Seminar, and visited the Kenyan National Tourism Department. They also inspected the Kenya Edge Convention Centre, further consolidating economic and trade cooperation and cultural tourism exchange between Hunan and Africa.

On May 9th, Yang Hongwei was invited to participate in the CAITPC and KIIC in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Cao Zhiqiang, Deputy Governor of Hunan, and Rebecca Miano, Cabinet Secrestary for Kenya’s Minister of Trade, Investment, and Industry, were present during the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Cao Zhiqiang expressed that Hunan is utilizing the CAETE and the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation as two major national platforms for Sino-African economic and trade cooperation. The province focuses on building an innovative zone for economic and trade cooperation with Africa, a leading zone for in-depth economic and trade cooperation with Africa, a zone for collaboration in the African industrial chain, and a “meeting room” for economic and trade exchanges with Africa. These efforts aim to actively promote the construction of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, implement practical measures aligning with the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, and contribute to building a high-level Sino-African community with a shared destiny. 

Since 2019, the CAETE has successfully held three sessions in Changsha, Hunan. This session marked the first high-level and large-scale exhibition and conference hosted in Africa. With the theme "Join Hands for a Better Future", the event featured exhibitions, displays, and a series of meetings and activities.

On the morning of May 8th, Yang Hongwei and his delegation visited the Kenyan National Tourism Department. During the discussion and exchange, the Director of the Kenya National Tourism Department Regulations Bureau warmly welcomed Yang Hongwei and his delegation’s visit, hoping to achieve deep cooperation and mutual benefit in economy, trade, culture, and tourism. They also conducted in-depth exchanges around the intelligent cultural tourism integrated service platform. Yang Hongwei expressed that with the opening of direct flights between Hunan and Kenya, Hunan-Kenyan cooperation has entered a new stage. HNTG will deepen its exchange and cooperation with Kenya in the tourism and cultural sectors. They aim to accelerate the landing and layout of the Chinese national hotel brand "Huatian Hotel" in Kenya, actively participate in the formulation of industry standards, and assist in the professionalization and diversification of Kenya’s hotel brands. They also seek to promote the construction of an communication and cooperation mechanism, jointly develop tourism route designs, upgrade tourism products, and continuously enhance the influence and competitiveness of cultural tourism products on both sides. Furthermore, they will leverage the advantages of the "Youxiangyou" smart cultural tourism service platform, collaborating extensively in areas such as standardized tourism services, digitization, and the promotion of high-quality tourist routes. Additionally, they will maximize the advantages of the group’s exhibition resources, making concerted efforts in the marketing activities of the CAETE. The goal is to establish a platform for cultural exchange, product promotion, and business negotiations between China and Kenya and create a new platform for cultural tourism and trade between China and Kenya.

In the afternoon of May 8th, Mao Yuxin, Party Committee Member and Deputy Director of the Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Hunan Province, presided over the Provincial State-owned Enterprises African Business Development Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. Mao Yuxin emphasized the necessity of taking several steps and measures to deepen the economic and trade work of provincial state-owned enterprises in Africa. He called for the establishment of a coalition among enterprises, collective efforts to go global, risk control to ensure stable economic and trade development, resource aggregation to strengthen and expand the economic and trade industrial sectors, assessment optimization to unwavering support for economic and trade cooperation with Africa. He emphasized the need to be realistic and work hard to contribute the strength of state-owned assets and enterprises to push for greater achievements in Hunan’s economic and trade cooperation with Africa.

Yang Hongwei stated that, in recent years, "Travel to Africa" has been on the rise, and Sino-African tourism cooperation continues to expand. Under the HNTG, multiple sector businesses have maintained long-term cooperation and exchanges with African countries. Huatian and Sunshine Hotels have collectively received over 20 heads of state and more than 100 officials from African countries. Hunan Conference and Exhibition Group has organized nearly 400 companies from Hunan to participate in professional exhibitions in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, and other countries. The HNTG is confident in further expanding the Kenyan tourism market and expediting the overseas layout of hotel brands and exhibition businesses, thus promoting deep human interactions on both sides, actively expediting the collaboration of Hunan enterprises going global, and collectively promoting the vigorous growth of Hunan’s assets and investments in Africa.

On the afternoon of May 9th, Yang Hongwei and his delegation visited and inspected the Kenya Edge Convention Centre. They held discussions and negotiations with the top management of the center. Yang Hongwei gave a brief overview of HNTG’s current state of affairs and desires for business expansion in Africa. He expressed hopes for deep cooperation between the two parties in hotel management and venue operations at the Kenya Edge Convention Centre for the common goal of promoting economic and cultural cooperation between Hunan and Kenya. He warmly invited representatives from the Kenya Edge Convention Centre delegation to visit Hunan.

Qiu Jun, Party Committee Member and Vice President (responsible for management) of Huatian Group, and relevant officials from the Hunan Conference and Exhibition Group participated in the activity.