China has not fined Kenya for allegedly defaulting on its SGR loan repayment, a Chinese government official has said.
Speaking on Tuesday, Director General of African Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Affairs ministry Wu Peng said Kenya’s repayment of the China Exim Bank loan is normal.
“Recently in Kenya, they said that China has slapped some fines for defaulting on Chinese SGR loan. It is not true,” Peng said.
The Chinese official said there is a lot of misinformation being circulated that does not help the relationship between China and Kenya, and other African countries.
“Common dictates suggest that for there to be a fine, there must be defaulting. But my very reliable information source told me Kenya did not default on the loan,” he said.
“The repayment has no problem at all.”
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Peng spoke when he hosted African journalists at a banquet at St Regis Hotel in Beijing, China.
He faulted media over the October 13 reports that Chinese banks slapped a Sh1.312 billion fine on Kenya after it defaulted on the loan repayment.
“This kind of false information really hurts the people-to-people understanding of each other. That is very irresponsible,” Peng said.
The Chinese envoy said in any relationship, trust must first be established hence there must be mutual trust between China and Africa for the relationship to be mutually beneficial.
