"It's very comfortable," Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on
January 14 when he stepped off one of 12 diesel locomotives that
arrived in Havana by ship from China.
"We have just received 12 locomotives from China," Castro said
in an interview published in the Sunday edition of the Juventud
Rebelde newspaper. "They are simply the best our country has
received. They are the most modern, most efficient and of best
value."
China signed a locomotive export contract with Cuba during
President Hu
Jintao's visit there in November 2004. Since then, several
engineers have visited the Caribbean island country to inspect its
railway lines. Armed with their research results, they modified the
design of the Dongfeng 7G locomotive, to enable it to run at a
maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour with 2,500 horsepower.
Plus freight, the locomotives cost over US$15 million. Cuba
obtained them on credit with preferential interest rates and
repayment schedules.
Previously, Cuba used second-hand trains from France and Canada
as well as some abandoned by Mexico. The arrival of the 12 Chinese
locomotives, the first to be exported from Asia, will significantly
improve the Latin American country's rail transport system.
The deal marked the beginning of Cuba's railway sector's
recovery after a 15-year economic crisis, Castro said.
Delivered along with the locomotives were 80 Yutong coaches.
Last September, Zhengzhou Yutong Coach Manufacturing Co Ltd signed
a contract worth US$100 million with Cuba to export a total of 630
ZK6120HA coaches. There are currently about 200 China-made buses
shuttling between Cuban cities.
The Cuban government has set traffic improvement as this year's
key priority, which creates tremendous business opportunities for
Chinese companies. Ranked as Cuba's fourth largest trading partner
in 2004, China jumped to second spot in 2005 after Venezuela.
The value of Chinese exports to Cuba grew 95 percent in the
first 10 months of 2005 to over US$500 million, while imports rose
17 percent to US$200 million, according to Yang Shidi, China's
commercial counsel in Havana.
(China.org.cn by Shao Da, January 16, 2006)
