Monday, July 09, 2012

Cuban President Received By Chinese Counterparts

Havana. July 5, 2012

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.

The head of state’s official visit to China precedes one to Vietnam, continuing his tour of Asia.


Havana. July 5, 2012

Raúl begins official visit to China

Yaima Puig Meneses
Granma International

BEIJING—President Raúl Castro Ruz arrived in the People’s Republic of China in the afternoon of July 4, on his first official visit as the Cuban head of state.

He was welcomed at Beijing International Airport by First Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, Cuban Ambassador Alberto Blanco and other Foreign Ministry officials, while two children presented him with a spray of flowers, receiving a smile of thanks from the President, before he presented the rest of the Cuban delegation, comprising Ricardo Cabrisas, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.

After the welcoming ceremony, the convoy drove through Beijing, where modern skyscrapers mingled with other buildings characteristic of the architecture of China, a country of approximately 1.3 billion inhabitants. The tour included emblematic locations such as the Chinese People’s Palace, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, decorated with Cuban flags for the occasion.

Raúl’s last visit to China took place in 2005 when, in addition to meeting with senior leaders of government and the Chinese Communist Party, the Cuban delegation toured important urban development centers and areas designed to the promotion of cutting-edge technology.

The official welcoming ceremony takes place today, when the Cuban President will be received by the Chinese leader Hu Jintao at the People’s Palace, after a meeting with People’s National Assembly President Wu Bangguo. Events of the day include the signing of important documents related to economic and technical cooperation in the agricultural sector, as well as customs retraining agreements.

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