Cuba Interested in Advancing Cooperation with Shanghai in Biotechnology, Tourism

Cuba hopes to further develop its cooperation ties with China´s Shanghai, especially in the biotechnological and tourist fronts, according to Raul Castro, Cuba´s prime vice president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, during a recent visit the senior official paid to this Chinese commercial and financial hub.

Mr. Castro called Shanghai´s development “amazing” and remembered his first visit to that Chinese city eight years ago. “I´m confident exchanges and cooperation between Cuba and Shanghai will develop in a deeper and broader way in the near future,” he said.

As to the leisure sector, Cuban Vice President Raul Castro stressed there are many prospects on the road ahead and distance between the two nations will never raise hurdles for tourist collaboration.

On July 2003, Cuba became the number-one Latin American travel destination for Chinese citizens under the Approved Destination Status granted by authorities from the Asian country. Both parties have already started the building of the Havana Hotel in Shanghai.

Cuba, one of the world´s leading countries in the field of biotechnology, and China set up Biotech Pharmaceutical in 2000, a joint venture that pursues research, manufacture and sale of monoclonal antibodies to diagnose and cure different types of cancer.

Mr. Castro´s recent visit to China –the second since 1997- was the first stopover of an Asian tour that also includes Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam.