From November 26 to 28, 2018, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs Xu Jinghu attended the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference held in Nairobi, capital of Kenya. Special Representative Xu Jinghu delivered a speech at the conference on behalf of the Chinese side, introducing relevant policies and positions of the Chinese government and China's practices and achievements of actively promoting the development of blue economy in recent years. She stressed that the Chinese side is willing to continue to follow the new concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, focus on improving the quality and efficiency of blue economy development and accelerate the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Taking the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity, the Chinese side will strengthen the integration of maritime strategy and industry with other countries, share experience of blue development and actively conduct bilateral and multilateral cooperation, so as to make joint contributions to advancing global cooperation in sustainable blue economy development.

On the sidelines of the conference, Special Representative Xu Jinghu met respectively with President Danny Faure of Seychelles and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Monica Juma of Kenya, exchanging views on bilateral relations and topics of common concern.

This conference, initiated by the Kenyan government and co-hosted by Kenya, Canada and Japan, aims to promote the development of blue economy and the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. More than 16,000 representatives from relevant parties, including heads of state and government from Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Uganda, and Mozambique, ministerial officials from such departments as foreign affairs, fishery, and energy of some Asian and African countries, South Pacific Island countries, Nordic countries, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom, high-level representatives of international and regional organizations such as President of the UN General Assembly, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, and European Union commissioners, as well as experts and scholars, researchers, and representatives from non-governmental organizations and private sectors, attended the conference. The conference adopted the Nairobi Statement of Intent on Advancing Global Sustainable Blue Economy.