People's Republic of China–Cuba relations

Sino-Cuban relations

Cuba	China

Cuban–Chinese relations are the interstate relations between the People's Republic of China and Republic of Cuba, which are both communist states. The origins of the relations began when the Qing dynasty established a consulate in Havana while Cuba was a still a colony of Spain in 1879. In 1902, the Qing recognized the independence of the Republic of Cuba from the United States (which had taken it from Spain in 1898).

The relations are based on trade, credits, and investments which have increased significantly since the 1990s. China is Cuba’s second largest trading partner after Venezuela. At a ceremonial trade gathering in Havana in early 2006, China’s ambassador to Cuba said “Our government has a firm position to develop trade co-operation between our countries. The policy, the orientation, has been determined. What’s left is the work to complete our plans.” Cuba and China are both ruled by a communist party, however, they were on different sides during the Cold War, with Cuba being an ally of the Soviet Union while China opposed it since it had different views on communism.

China has bailed-out Cuba with loans of billions of dollars, and as a result has access to much of their oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bilateral trade between China and Cuba in 2005 totaled US$777 million, of which US$560 million were Chinese exports to Cuba. Bilateral trade between China and Cuba in 2014 totaled US$1.6 billion. China is sending a growing amount of durable goods to Cuba. Chinese goods have become the primary tools both in the planned revitalization of Cuban transport infrastructure and in the “Energy Revolution” of 2006 to provide electricity to the Cuban population. Some large-scale transactions include:

As of mid-2006, Cuba had purchased 100 locomotives from China for US$130 million.

As of early 2006, Cuba had signed a contract for 1,000 Chinese buses for urban and inter-provincial transportation.

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