Vice Minister Yu Xinrong led a delegation to the Republic of Cuba and met with Mr. Julio Andrés García, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Cuba, in Havana. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening agricultural cooperation.
Vice Minister Yu, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture of China, conveyed deep condolences over the passing of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Vice Minister Yu noted that China-Cuba friendship has a long history and the two countries value each other as trustworthy friends and brothers. The two sides have agreed to deepen the bilateral relations and forge a solid foundation for agricultural cooperation. The expanding bilateral exchanges in agricultural sectors have yielded fruitful results, attracting attention of the leaders of both countries, which include the establishment of the Cuba-China Agricultural Demonstration Park and cooperation in moringa, sericulture, livestock and cereal crops, etc. MOA is willing to make active efforts to help the Cuban side to develop its modern agriculture and ensure national food security.
For further agricultural cooperation, Vice Minister Yu made the following suggestions.
1. To continue promoting frequent high level exchanges to learn from each other's experience in the development of agriculture and rural economy.
2. To fully utilize the agricultural cooperation mechanism and facilitate the first meeting of China-Cuba Joint Committee on Agriculture to deepen exchanges in multiple areas between the two countries.
3. To further improve the building of Cuba-China Agricultural Demonstration Park and push forward cooperation in agricultural research and technology demonstration with special focus on the priorities of shared interests, such as moringa, sericulture, livestock and cereal crops.
4. To intensify personnel exchanges and training. China will provide technology support and training programs for the Cuban side and conduct joint researches, training and extension of agricultural technologies.
5. To enhance two-way trade and investment and accelerate agribusiness exchanges to promote cooperation in crop cultivation, livestock production and agro-processing, etc.
Mr. García extended his appreciation to the Chinese side for its condolences over the passing of Comrade Castro and its energetic support to Cuba. The Cuban side totally agreed with Vice Minister Yu's suggestions for agricultural cooperation and expected more concrete actions to be taken by the two agricultural ministries as soon as possible.
Before the bilateral meeting, Vice Minister Yu and Mr. García both attended the China-Cuba Agricultural Technology and Business Cooperation Forum, during which over 70 delegates from the agribusiness and research institutes of both countries exchanged their views on promoting bilateral agricultural cooperation as well as trade and investment.