Kenya, an East African republic, holds regular multiparty elections, but the monitoring organization Freedom House reports that pervasive corruption and brutality by security forces remain serious problems despite a vibrant media and civil-society sector. Kenya established diplomatic relations with China in 1963, and the two governments elevated ties to a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” during a state visit by Kenyan President William Ruto to Beijing in April 2025. State-to-state media cooperation dates back decades. In 2023, Xinhua News Agency invited the government-run Kenya News Agency (KNA) to cooperate in countering what both sides characterized as Western “fake news.” A release from KNA said the sides would “spearhead countering fake news and propaganda by reporting facts based on research to build a true image of the two nations that were victims of western colonial masters.” Kenya and China also pledged renewed news-exchange agreements ahead of Ruto’s 2025 state visit. Kenya became a founding member of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization in July 2026.