China’s Xi meets Cuban president, promises ongoing support

Beijing, Nov 25 (EFE).- China’s President Xi Jinping met his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in Beijing on Friday and promised that his country would do everything possible to support Cuba.

“No matter how the international situation may change, China’s commitment to long-term friendship with Cuba will not change. China’s determination to support Cuba in pursuing socialism will not change,” Xi said, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

“China’s will to work with Cuba to safeguard international fairness and justice and oppose hegemony and power politics will not change,” he added.

For his part, the Cuban president, who arrived in China in the morning for a two-day official visit, spoke about the economic crisis in his country and expressed confidence in tackling it with the “support of friendly countries such as China,” his office wrote on Twitter.

The Cuban leader also praised Xi for his “theoretical and practical contributions” to the construction of socialism as leader of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Xi described bilateral ties as “an example of solidarity and cooperation between socialist countries, as well as an example of sincere mutual assistance between developing countries.”

He also expressed Beijing’s willingness to deepen mutual political trust and expand practical cooperation with Havana.

After the meeting, 12 documents were signed, including a political consultation plan between the foreign ministries of both countries, a memorandum of understanding for the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative – the Asian country’s plan that seeks to build infrastructures in more than 60 countries -, and a memorandum for the strengthening of economic and trade cooperation between both nations.

Díaz-Canel arrived in Beijing, on Xi Jinping’s invitation, after visiting Russia and Turkey, where he met his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan respectively.

The Cuban ruler’s previous visit to China and his first as president, took place in November 2018.

During that three-day visit, he met Xi and both leaders agreed to advance ties. Several bilateral agreements were also signed.

Cuba was, in 1960, the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, which was founded in 1949. EFE

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