The 2022 Chinese film festival opened in Kenya on Thursday with a view to boosting Sino-Africa cooperation and cultural exchanges.

Ababu Namwamba, newly appointed Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts said in a speech read on his behalf by Michael Pundo, CEO of Kenya Cultural Center that the film festival is a platform for filmmakers from the two countries to exchange ideas and enhance the viewership of Chinese films by the Kenyan audience.

"It is also a concrete action to actively implement the cultural and people-to-people exchange program under the nine plans of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that was held in 2021," Pundo said.

The film festival was jointly organized by the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, the Kenya Cultural Center, and the Chinese Confucius Institute in Kenya. According to the organizers, 14 Chinese films, 12 of which have been translated into Swahili will be screened to local audiences over the next one month.

Pundo revealed that the collaboration to host the Chinese film festival reinforces Kenya's commitment to improving cultural and artistic exchanges in various forms and promoting outstanding cultural and artistic products.