China offers praise for retiring Castro, calling him a revolutionary leader

BEIJING - China praised Fidel Castro on Wednesday as an old friend and pledged to continue building ties with one of its few remaining communist allies following the Cuban leader's retirement after 49 years in charge.

"Chairman Castro is a revolutionary leader deeply loved by the Cuban people. He is also an old friend of the Chinese people. The Chinese side wishes him an early and full recovery," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

Castro, 81, resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power. He temporarily ceded his powers to his brother Raul Castro on July 31, 2006, when he announced that he had undergone intestinal surgery.

Castro visited China in 1995 and in 2003, while Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Cuba in 2004, when a deal was signed for a US$500 million (�339.17 million) Chinese investment in a new nickel plant in Moa, in Cuba's eastern province of Holguin.

Hu's predecessor Jiang Zemin also visited Cuba twice.

"China and Cuba are friendly nations. The Chinese side will continue to consolidate and develop Sino-Cuban friendly and cooperative relations," Liu said in a statement posted on the ministry's Web site.

China and Cuba were Cold War antagonists during the Sino-Soviet split, but ties warmed after Cuba lost its financial backing with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Commercial deals signed included one that sent China's famous "Flying Pigeon" bicycles to Cuba in exchange for sugar.

Trade between the Cuba and China has burgeoned in recent years to US$1.8 billion (�1.22 billion) in 2006, according to Chinese officials. Chinese exports of buses, locomotives, farm equipment and consumer goods helped account for the increase. Beijing has also extended generous loans to the island.

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