Castro meets and greets old and new Chinese leadership
BEIJING: Cuban President Fidel Castro Thursday began his second day of meeting and greeting incoming and outgoing Chinese leaders, holding talks with Communist Party stalwart and parliamentary head Li Peng. Li at the Great Hall of the People greeted Castro only a week before Li’s parliament formally ushers in the nation’s next government to be headed by younger leaders promoted last November during a congress of the ruling party. “I’m very happy to have this opportunity to again meet with comrade Castro and our Cuban friends,” Li told the Cuban leader. “Your visit to China comes at a crucial time.” Li, who stepped down as party number two during the November party meeting, is expected to retire as head of the National People’s Congress during its annual session that begins next week. On Wednesday Castro met with outgoing President Jiang Zemin and was scheduled to meet Thursday with outgoing Premier Zhu Rongji and soon-to-be president Hu Jintao. During talks with Li, Castro praised the “great changes” China has undergone during its 20-year opening and reform drive. “I can’t really be sure just now what kind of China I am visiting, because the first time I visited your country appeared one way and now when I visit it appears another way,” he said. “You can say that every so often your country undergoes great changes.” The visit is Castro’s first to China since late 1995. As the last remaining leaders of the communist world, Castro has developed close personal ties with Jiang, who visited Cuba in November 1993 and April 2001. On Wednesday, the two leaders also signed an economic cooperation agreement. China is Cuba’s third most important trading partner after Venezuela, which provides the island with cheap oil, and Spain, which has hotel chains deeply invested in the tourism industry. China took over as Cuba’s main political and financial partner in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. The trade balance, however, clearly favours China. According to official figures here, in 2001 Cuba exported 70 million dollars worth of goods to China, while it imported 547 million dollars’ worth. —AFP