More Chinese TV programs to grace Kenyan screens

China's National Radio and Television Administration on Monday signed two agreements with the Kenya Film Commission on licensing and co-production agreements with Kenyan media aimed at advancing the two countries' cooperation in television production and promoting cultural exchanges.

Under the new partnership, Citizen TV in Kenya will air 39 episodes of the second season of Chinese drama series Like a Flowing River and 35 episodes of Chinese drama series Welcome to Milele Village. Kenya's Bliss TV on the other hand will add Chinese drama series A Very Close Relation to the many Chinese TV series, documentaries and entertainment programs they offer.

Speaking at the signing ceremony of the agreements, Dong Xin, vice-minister of China's National Radio and Television Administration, said that Kenya and China plan to expand their collaboration in television and film to include co-broadcasting, co-production and adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence.

The move was welcomed by Judith Munyinyi, secretary of information in Kenya's Ministry of ICT who said that the collaboration will highly impact Kenya's media industry especially due to technology transfer. According to Dong, the partnership includes the promotion of Kenya as a filming destination and will help in shooting multiple movies in Kenya, and showcasing Chinese films in the country.