China delivers first batch of emergency rice aid to Cuba

The handover ceremony for the first batch of rice under China's emergency food assistance program to Cuba was held on Monday at a grain transit warehouse of Cuba's Ministry of Domestic Trade.

Attending the event were Cuban Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga; Minister of Domestic Trade Betsy Díaz Velázquez, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Déborah Rivas Saavedra; and Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Hua Xin, among others.

At the ceremony, Perez-Oliva said that the donated supplies fully reflect China's valuable assistance to Cuba and the deep friendship between the two countries.

In addition to food aid, the two sides have engaged in extensive cooperation in areas such as energy, achieving rapid and effective progress, he said.

Cuba sincerely thanks the Chinese government for its support under the current challenging circumstances, and it is a concrete practice of jointly building a China-Cuba community with a shared future, the Cuban senior official said.

Hua Xin said the assistance not only embodies the profound special friendship between China and Cuba, but also demonstrates the firm conviction of the two sides to stand together through storms and challenges.

"Today, we witnessed the official delivery of the first batch of the emergency food aid assisted by the Chinese government. We believe that through joint efforts, no blockade can extinguish the light of hope, and no difficulty can hinder our progress. China is willing to continue strengthening cooperation with Cuba, overcoming difficulties together, and injecting greater momentum into building a China-Cuba community with a shared future," the Chinese ambassador said.

The total volume of rice assistance under this program amounts to 30,000 tonnes. The second batch has already arrived smoothly at the port of Santiago de Cuba, and subsequent batches are set to be shipped soon.

China’s national railway network handled a record 3.32 billion passenger trips from January to August, up 3.9 percent year on year, according to state operator China State Railway Group on Saturday.

An average of 11,508 trains were operated daily, up 5.0 percent compared to a year earlier.

Meanwhile, cross-border rail traffic rose significantly during the period. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway recorded nearly 23.4 million passenger trips, up 10.7 percent year on year, while the China-Laos Railway handled 245,000 trips, up 39.1 year on year.

In the first eight months, China's railways handled over 16.68 million trips by foreign travelers, marking a 33.3 percent year-on-year increase.