CIDCA chairman meets with Cuban deputy prime minister

On April 4, Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) Luo Zhaohui met with Cuban Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Ricardo Cabrisas, both of whom co-chaired a joint meeting on bilateral development assistance and cooperation.

Pointing out that China and Cuba is a socialist community with a shared future, Luo said that the two parties, countries and their peoples have a profound traditional friendship. In 2022, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited China, and the two heads of state reached important consensus, charting the course for the development of bilateral ties, according to Luo. China is ready to strengthen coordination with Cuba, carry out high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and pragmatic cooperation under the Global Development Initiative (GDI) framework focusing on such key areas as agriculture, energy, telecommunications and people-to-people exchanges, in order to benefit people of both countries, Luo said. China shows great empathy for Cuba plagued by hardship and will provide support and assistance to the best of its ability according to the needs of Cuba, he added.

Cabrisas reaffirmed the special friendship between Cuba and China and reiterated Cuba’s adherence to the one-China principle and its support for the Belt and Road Initiative and the GDI. He thanked China for its long-term support to the economic and social development of Cuba and the improvement of the people's livelihoods. Cuba is ready to work closely with China to implement the key consensus reached between the two heads of state, deepen pragmatic cooperation and push for a higher level of bilateral ties, he added.

The two sides held in-depth exchanges on matters concerning development assistance and cooperation and signed a number of cooperative documents.

Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Ma Hui, member of the Leading Party Members Group of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) Huang Yan, Director-General of the CIDCA's Second Department of Regional Affairs Bai Bin, officials from China's Foreign Ministry, the MARA, and Ministry of Commerce, and Chinese experts in agriculture, energy and development planning, as well as officials from the Cuban ministries of economy and planning, foreign affairs, agriculture, energy, food industry, communications and transportation attended the meeting.