Cuban President received
by Chinese counterpart

CUBA and China confirmed this Thursday the excellent state of their relations, widely discussed by Presidents Raúl Castro and Hu Jintao during official talks at the Beijing People’s Palace, after the two leaders had a private conversation.

During the talks, the presidents recalled earlier meetings and the host also remembered his conversation with the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro.

"You have inherited and developed the beautiful tradition of friendship between China and Cuba and have afforded great importance to the strengthening of relations. We have greatly valued these efforts," the Chinese President emphasized.

He stated his conviction that this official visit will give a strong impulse to exchanges and collaboration between the two nations and take relations to a higher level.

The Cuban leader affirmed that, in addition to deepening these links, they are being extended and consolidated, quoting what he stated in an earlier meeting with Wu Bangguo, President of the Permanent Committee of the National People’s Assembly: "They have already come of age. The close relations we have today with China, and especially with its people, are a source of pride for us," he added.

After the talks, Raúl Castro and Hu Jintao attended a ceremony during which Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas and Trade Minister Chen Deming signed eight cooperation documents.

The new steps in bilateral ties include an economic-technical cooperation agreement related to a Chinese donation and another for an interest-free credit line.

Two exchange notes were signed, one in the financial sphere and the other linked to digital television equipment.

Other agreements covered cooperation between the two countries’ Customs Offices and the Ministries of Agriculture, and a loan from the Development Bank of China for the rehabilitation and upgrading of medical facilities.

Tomorrow, President Raúl Castro will be received by Prime Minister Wen Jibao, Deputy Head of Government Li Kegiang, and Vice President Xi Jinping, who visited Cuba in June 2011.