(29 Nov 1995) Natural Sound
Cuban President Fidel Castro has arrived in China for a state visit intended to boost trade with China while highlighting solidarity among the few remaining Communist countries.
The visit to Beijing is Castro's first, but the second summit between the two nations since they restored diplomatic ties in 1993.
Fidel Castro touched down in Beijing on Wednesday to a greeting of fellow comrades and a red carpet.
Castro's visit is the first by a Cuban head of state since that of President Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado in 1961.
Cuba was the first Latin American country to recognise China after the Communists came to power in 1949.
Ties, however, were limited because of Havana's alliance with the Soviet Union, China's former rival for leadership of the socialist bloc.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellite system in Eastern Europe wiped out more than 80 per cent of Cuba's trade, causing dire economic hardships that have been aggravated by a 32-year-old U-S trade embargo.
China has not filled the gap left by Cuba's loss of aid when the Soviet Union collapsed, but it has increased diplomatic and economic contacts.
Cuban streets are filled with Chinese-made bicycles that have replaced cars and buses idled by shortages of fuel once supplied by the Soviets.
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