BEIJING (AP) - China plans to further expand ties with the fellow communist government of Cuba, Premier Li Peng told visiting Cuban Vice President Raul Castro.
Castro, the brother of Cuban President Fidel Castro, arrived Monday in Beijing for an official visit highlighting cooperation between the two countries.
"We believe the Cuban people will surely overcome various difficulties and continue to make new achievements,'' Li said in remarks reported Wednesday by the Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily.
Cuba, a former Soviet ally, did not establish diplomatic ties with China until 1993, but has since looked to China for guidance in reforming the struggling Cuban economy.
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