Cuba's Raul Castro said on "learning'' trip in China

12:26 a.m. Nov 19, 1997 Eastern

BEIJING, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Cuba's Vice-President and Defence Minister Raul Castro said his country was eager to learn from China and wanted to strengthen ties between the communist countries, state media said on Wednesday.

Castro, younger brother and anointed successor of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, told Chinese Premier Li Peng during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday that Cuba "values China's experience,'' the Xinhua news agency said.

"He said the purpose of his current visit is to learn more about China's experience in economic construction,'' the China Daily reported.

Li told Raul Castro that the situations facing each socialist country were unique and that China's policies and practices could only serve as a reference, the newspaper said.

China has been transformed into an economic powerhouse since it abandoned Soviet-style central planning and embraced market-oriented reforms in the late 1970s.

In contrast, Cuba's economic fortunes have slumped since the Soviet Union collapsed six years ago, depriving the country of a vital source of export revenue and foreign aid. Havana is now facing up to the task of re-invigorating an economy still dominated by state planning.

Castro told Premier Li that Cuba was "devoted to economic construction now,'' the China Daily said.

Cuba views China's and Vietnam's economic reforms with interest, although officials have stressed they do not necessarily aim to copy what the two countries have done.

Castro was quoted by the newspaper as saying Cuba was ready to "continue friendly cooperation'' with China.

He arrived in Beijing on Monday for the visit and on Wednesday met Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Xinhua said. It was not known how long he would stay.

China and Cuba have long patched up ideological differences that prevailed during the late 1960s and 1970s when Havana took Moscow's side amid Sino-Soviet tensions.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Cuba has taken a renewed interest in ties with China, seeking both economic and ideological companionship.

China is a major buyer of Cuban sugar. It exports food, medicine and manufactured goods to the Caribbean island.

Cuban President Fidel Castro visited China in 1995 and his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin, visited Cuba in 1993.

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