China and Cuba Sign Bilateral Agreements
Chinese president Xi Jinpeng visited Cuba in July to sign new bilateral agreements in finance, biotechnology, agriculture, and renewable energy together with Cuba.
Bejing will finance a new terminal at the port of Santiago de Cuba, according to the news website “Cuba Debate”. China and Cuba will also cooperate on cyberspace issues as well.
Raul Castro and the Chinese president agreed on the protocols with which to oversee the quality of tobacco and sugar that Cuba exports to China.
Before the meeting with Raul Castro, Xi, the Chinese leader, visited with Fidel Castro, who is now 87 years of age, and presented him with “the respect” of the Chinese people.
Xi and Raul Castro were also expected to discuss the new conditions of Investment Law, which was approved by the Cuban government in March. This legislation will permit foreign investors to bring their own workforce to the island to work on construction projects.
This was the fourth and last Latin American stop for Xi before returning home. He also visited Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela where he signed off on multi-million-euro loans and dozens of agreements with different corporations.
The government of Raul Castro hopes for similar treatment, but first China appears to want to make sure that Cuba “has done its homework”.
Both Raul and Fidel Castro have emphasized the key role of Chinese investment in regional development, especially when it comes to exploiting the rich oil, mineral and fresh water reserves in Latin America. “We face the challenge of working toward of our natural and agricultural resources. We need to increase and diversify our exports, and achieve a more equal trade balance that will reserve an important role for our ties with the People’s Republic of China”, said Raul Castro in Brazilia on June 17 of this year.
China has significant oil interests in Cuba, where it manages several wells on the Northern coast of Cuba. In June of 2011 Xi, who then was vice-president, signed 13 energy and economic agreements with Cuba including two projects to expand the sugar refinery in Cienfuegos and also to build a liquid gas plant in partnership with Venezuela.
China is Cuba’s second-most-important trade partner after Venezuela, with a bilateral trade volume of 1.4 billion dollars in 2013.
