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With intensifying cooperation between China and Africa in trade and infrastructure development, African experts have emphasized the need to prioritize peace as a key part of the bilateral cooperation to promote peace and security in the continent.

Mohamed Ali Guyo, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's special envoy for the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Somalia, praised China's peace efforts in recent years in African countries such as South Sudan and the Middle East, and called on China to broaden this role in East Africa and Africa at large through preventive diplomacy to ease tensions before they escalate into conflict.

"In a region where conflict can ignite at any moment, we must consider how to protect infrastructure and investments from instability. This is where China's growing role in peace diplomacy becomes critical," he said.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development is an eight-country trade bloc in East Africa with members including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia.

Aside from promoting international economic and trade cooperation, China has been playing an increasingly prominent role in international peace and security in recent years. It has become the second-largest contributor to United Nations peacekeeping assessments and the biggest troop contributor to peacekeeping operations among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

In Africa, Chinese peacekeeping missions have been in operation in countries including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali.

In the Middle East, with China's mediation, Saudi Arabia and Iran normalized diplomatic relations in 2023, ending a long-standing confrontation.

Guyo said that these actions show China's ability to make significant contributions to peace and conflict resolution in Africa, where conflicts and wars have persistently hindered its development.

Xue Bing, China's special envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs, also emphasized China's determination to contribute more to peace and security in Africa.

"We are entering a new era of China-Africa relations," he said in a seminar on China-Africa modernization in Nairobi on Thursday.

"Infrastructure alone is not enough. We must now deliver peace as a public good, ensure safety for our investment and anchor our friendship in stability."

East African Community Secretary-General Veronica Nduva, on the other hand, reiterated the need to strengthen cooperation between China and the East African bloc, especially in the crucial areas of peace, development and regional integration.

She praised China's key role in improving East Africa's infrastructure, pointing to landmark projects such as the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, which links Kenya's two biggest cities, the Nairobi Expressway and the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway in Uganda.

"Such infrastructure is vital to East Africa's economic transformation," she said. "More importantly, these investments represent our shared vision for prosperity and peace."

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Guo Haiyan stressed that economic development and peace must go together. She affirmed China's commitment to working with African nations to build a "positive cycle of development, security and shared prosperity".

"Strengthening transport and economic corridors like the Standard Gauge Railway and the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway can lower regional transaction costs, enhance regional cooperation, and reduce the fragility that often leads to conflict," she said.

Somalia's Ambassador to Kenya, Jabril Ibrahim Abdulle, expressed appreciation for China's efforts in rebuilding Somalia's human resources, fostering the next generation of skilled workers, professionals and leaders.