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

The deals further details were not released 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.

Source: Xinhua/China Daily