Trade between Cuba, China shows signs of strengthening

TRADE
Trade between Cuba, China shows signs of strengthening

HAVANA --
(AP) -- Trade between Cuba and China ballooned to $1.8 billion last
year, double that of 2005, Beijing's ambassador to the island said.

China's exports of buses, locomotives and farm equipment and supplies to
Cuba in 2006 helped account for the sharp increase over the previous
year, Zhao Rongxian said in a story posted Tuesday on the website of the
Cuban government's business weekly, Opciones. He did not provide
specific numbers for Chinese-Cuban trade in 2005.

An official Cuban report last year said trade between the two countries
was about $775,000 during the 12-month period ending in October 2005.

It was unclear whether the $1.8 billion figure corresponded to the same
12 months in 2006.

''We are both socialist countries, we have a lot in common and
magnificent relations of cooperation in all areas,'' the ambassador said.

Cuba sent nickel, sugar and medicine as well as biotechnological
products to China. Chinese tourists also visited Cuba in record numbers
and now average more than 10,000 a year, the ambassador said.

For decades, China did not trade with Cuba because of the island's
economic dependence on Moscow, then a rival of Beijing.

But since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Venezuela -- with its
generous oil exports at favorable prices -- has emerged as the island's
top commercial partner, while trade from China has steadily increased.

Cuba's official trade figures are difficult to verify because the
government includes social services not counted in U.N.-standard
measures of economic output.

Government officials reported last month that trade with Venezuela
topped $2.6 billion in 2006.

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