The high cost of tickets between both nations, around $1,500 per person, discourages travel
14ymedio, Havana, December 28, 2024 — The Chinese Embassy in Havana announced this Friday that Cubans who wish to travel to the Asian country will be exempt from paying the fees of the visa procedure from January 1. Payment will be maintained, however, if any procedure at the diplomatic headquarters is urgently requested.
The measure is taken in the midst of a climate of rapprochement and growing economic interest of China, whose citizens, since last May, do not need a visa to enter the Island. It is, according to the embassy, a “New Year’s gift” to Cubans.
The change, however, will probably have very little influence on the number of Cuban travelers to China. Nationals of the Island need to have a transit visa for most airports in Europe and other parts of the world that act as a bridge between Cuba and China. The high cost of tickets between the two nations, which are close to $1,500 per person, also discourages travel.
The change, however, will probably have very little influence on the number of Cuban travelers to China
Ambassador Hua Xin reported on the measure in a congratulatory message to the regime on the 66th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s triumph in 1959. “This year, China and Cuba have witnessed frequent exchanges and fruitful cooperation,” said the diplomat, who highlighted Cuba’s union with the BRICS group of countries as the starting signal to provide more economic aid from Beijing.
He referred to “several important projects,” including the steady shipment of solar panels, guarantors of the “bright future” that Hua Xin predicts for an Island that has concluded another year of energy crisis. “Chinese assistance materials have arrived in batches; photovoltaic parks have been built with Chinese help; direct flights between the two countries have resumed; and more and more Chinese tourists are seen on the streets of Havana,” he added.
In his message, which he read in English in a video on his X account, Hua Xin, for his part, gave details about his life in Havana. “I have made many Cuban friends and visited many places. I have been deeply impressed by the hospitality, kindness, diligence and patriotism of the Cuban people.”
Hua Xin, ambassador since last June, has been one of the architects of the growing rapprochement between Beijing and Havana
Hua Xin, ambassador since last June, has been one of the architects of the growing rapprochement between Beijing and Havana. In addition to managing China’s aid to Cuba, he has been interested in participating in the media life of the Island. Earlier this month, he wrote an opinion piece in Cubadebate that contained his diplomatic approach to the country.
For Hua Xin, Cuba must find its place among China’s international allies to contribute to the world’s economic transformation designed by Xi Jinping. “China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, and they are working together to build a China-Cuba community of shared future,” he wrote. The cooperation is based, he said, on “biotechnology, renewable energy, communications and other fields.”
“China is willing to work with Cuba,” is a phrase that he constantly repeats in his speeches, meetings with the authorities and public messages.
At that time, the minister announced the visa exemption for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports
China will be the guest country, next year, of the 42nd edition of the International Tourism Fair of Cuba (FITCuba), the main event of this sector on the Island. The Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, explained then that the invitation was part of the promotion of relations and tourism between the two countries.
At that time, the minister announced the visa exemption for Cuban citizens with ordinary passports
The greatest evidence of the rapprochement in recent months has been the sending of solr panels from the Chinese company Hangzhou Duojia Technology. Its president, Qiaoming Huang, told Reuters earlier this month that solar panels are “the definitive solution” for the Cuban energy debacle. His argument was indisputable: “In this country there is plenty of sun.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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