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China–Cuba relations are theinterstate relations between thePeople's Republic of China andRepublic of Cuba. Historically, these relations began when theQing dynasty established a consulate inHavana while Cuba was a still aCaptaincy General ofSpain in 1879. In 1902, theQing dynasty recognized the independence of theRepublic of Cuba from theUnited States, which had taken it from Spain in 1898. Cuba recognized the PRC in September 1960.
The relations are based on trade, credits, and investments, which have increased significantly since the 1990s. China is Cuba's second-largest trading partner afterVenezuela. 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."[1] Although both Cuba and China are ruled by a communist party, they were on different sides during theCold War, with Cuba being an ally of theSoviet Union, which China usually opposed following theSino-Soviet Split.
China and Cuba experience good mutual relations, including through being members of theBelt and Road Initiative. China has partnered with Cuba to upgrade the rail network, host military facilities, and other initiatives.
In 1912, the Cuban government established relations with theBeiyang government of theRepublic of China inPeking.[citation needed] This continued withNationalist government inNanking andTaipei after losing most of its territory. Both countries were allies inWorld War II. In 1960, post-revolutionary Cuba shifted recognition to the People's Republic of China.[2]: 137 It was the first Latin American country to recognize the PRC.[2]: 137
The relationship between Cuba and China deteriorated during the Sino-Soviet split, in part because Cuba valued its need for Soviet oil more than its need for Chinese rice.[2]: 137 In 1979 and the following years, Cuba supported Vietnam in theSino-Vietnamese War.[3]
Tensions between Cuba and China remained until the late 1980s.[2]: 137 In the late 1980s, Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union became strained.[2]: 137 After the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, international relations with China were hampered.[2]: 137 A series of Cuban-Chinese state visits followed and relations improved.[2]: 137
In the late 1990s, China provided the Cuban government with equipment to block signals fromRadio Martí.[4] Chinese personnel have been operating two intelligence signal stations in Cuba since early 1999.[5]Bejucal hosts asignals intelligencelistening station operated by thePeople's Liberation ArmyThird Department of the Joint Staff Department.[6][7][8][9] Other listening stations have been reported inWajay and El Salao,Santiago de Cuba.[10]
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyHu Jintao visited Cuba in November 2004,[11] followed a visit by his successor,Xi Jinping, in July 2014.[12] In 2023, China and Cuba signed a bilateral cybersecurity agreement designed to prevent political subversion.[13] China subsequently invested US$100 million in Cuban cybersecurity.[13]
Cuba follows theone China principle. It recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole government of China andTaiwan as an integral part of China's territory, and supports all efforts by the PRC to "achievenational reunification".[14] Cuba was one of 53 countries that, in June 2020, backed theHong Kong national security law at theUnited Nations.[15]
After Cuba's 1960 recognition of the People's Republic of China, China became a major rice exporter to Cuba.[2]: 137 In 1966 during the Sino-Soviet Split, China reduced its rice export quota to Cuba.[2]: 137 The move increased diplomatic tensions, withFidel Castro describingMao Zedong as a senile idiot.[2]: 137 As relations improved, China provided Cuba with interest-free credit for it to import home appliances in the early 2000s.[2]: 137 The two countries then established a joint venture for the assembly of household electronics in Havana.[2]: 137
Bilateral trade between China and Cuba in 2005 totaled US$777 million, of which US$560 million were Chinese exports to Cuba.[16] 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 ofCuban transport infrastructure and in theEnergy Revolution of 2006 to provide electricity to the Cuban population. In 2010, China became Cuba's second-largest trading partner.[2]: 137 Economic ties frayed in the 2010s due to troubles in the Cuban economy. Cuban imports from China fell from $1.7 billion in 2017 to $1.1 billion in 2022.[17]
According to theFinancial Times, Chinese officials have encouraged Cuba to implement economic reforms to shift from a planned economy to one similar toChina's economic model, and "have been perplexed and frustrated at the Cuban leadership’s unwillingness to decisively implement a market-oriented reform programme despite the glaring dysfunction of the status quo".[17]
As of mid-2006, Cuba had purchased 100 locomotives from China for US$130 million.[18][19] As of early 2006, Cuba had signed a contract for 1,000 Chinese buses for urban and inter-provincial transportation.[20]
The Cuban government is replacing older appliances with newer, more energy-efficient models, including (as of early 2006) 30,000 Chinese refrigerators.[21]
China has been a key partner in the development of Cuba's domestic solar panel production.[22]: 118 It has provided Cuba with training, technology, and extended credit to Cuba to assist in this process.[22]: 118
As of 2004, China had agreed to planning to invest US$500 million in the completion and operation of Las Camariocas, an unfinished processing facility from theSoviet era. Under the agreement,Cubaníquel, the state-run nickel producer, owns 51 percent and Chinese-government owned Minmetals Corporation owns 49 percent. Financing for the project is from the China Development Bank, withSinosure, the Chinese Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, providing guarantees.[23]
SINOPEC, the Chinese stateoil company, has an agreement with state-ownedCUPET (Cuba Petroleum) to develop oil resources. As of mid-2008, SINOPEC had done someseismic testing for oil resources on the island of Cuba, but no drilling.[24] The company also has a contract for joint production in one of Cuba's offshore areas of high potential yield, off the coast ofPinar del Río,[25] but had done no off-shore drilling as of mid-2008.[24]
In November 2005, PetroChina Great Wall Drilling Co., Ltd. and CUPET held a ceremony for the signing of two drilling service contracts, to provide di;[26] Great Wall Drilling has provideddrilling rigs foroil exploration on Cuba's north coast.
In December 2005, the two countries signed an agreement to develop biotech joint ventures within the next three to five years.[27] Two manufacturing plants using Cuban technology and processes, were operating in China as of early 2006.[28] As of 2020, Cuba'sCenter for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) had two joint ventures with China and itsCenter of Molecular Immunology (CIM) has three.[22]: 143 When China made its firstmonoclonal antibodies, it did so with Cuban technology.[22]: 143
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