Image: DENNIS MILIMO
The Chinese government has broken its silence over the controversy surrounding China Square saying it hopes the bone of contention is resolved soon.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy in Kenya said it fully supports China-Kenya trade relations and its citizens conducting business in the country in line with Kenyan laws.
"At the same time, we hope that the Kenyan government will protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and Chinese citizens and create an inclusive and friendly business environment so as to better promote China-Kenya practical cooperation and bring benefit to our two countries and two peoples," the statement read.
The giant retail shop shut its operations indefinitely on Sunday to address several issues including security.
"We, China Square Limited, regret to inform you that we will continue to close down for further notice," the outlet said in a statement.
Owner Lei Cheng alias Charlie said that he will look at increasing security personnel to handle the high traffic of customers and increase the number of tills in the supermarket to ease the movement of customers.
"We need to close down and give a cooling down period," he said.
On Tuesday, business owners in the CBD held demonstrations to condemn the shop over what they termed as unfair business practices.
The business community said they were losing customers to the Chinese shop located at Unicity Mall on Thika Road due to its low-priced commodities.
The traders from the Nyamakima business hub held demonstrations from downtown to Harambee Annex which houses Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's office to seek an audience with him.
They waved placards written "Stop China invasion, protect our businesses. Save our future generation."
