By Salim Lamrani

June 23, 2025  Rebelión

 

Stifled by an economic blockade for more than six decades, Cuba is facing an extremely serious situation. China, the island’s strategic partner and historic ally, is in a position to provide more robust support to help it meet the current challenges.

A long-standing relationship based on solidarity

Relations between Cuba and China are excellent. Back in 1960, Havana was the first American capital to recognize the People’s Republic of China, establishing diplomatic ties despite pressure from the United States. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro has defended the integration of the People’s Republic of China into the United Nations, a goal achieved in 1971.

The ties between the two countries are now solid, both politically and economically. Beijing and Havana share a common vision of a multipolar international order based on respect for the law, sovereignty, and non-interference. Cuba has always supported the principle of one China, while Beijing has consistently opposed the unilateral sanctions imposed on the island since 1960, denouncing their illegal and inhumane nature.

In the economic sphere, China is Cuba’s leading trading partner, accounting for more than 20% of its trade. The island imports numerous Chinese goods, including clothing, household appliances, technological equipment, and industrial machinery. China has also invested in the Mariel Special Development Zone, as well as in telecommunications and infrastructure. In the medical sector, Cuba has established partnerships in biotechnology, a field in which it is a pioneer.

After several years of stagnation, trade picked up in 2024: Chinese exports to Cuba increased by 45%, reaching $75 million, while Cuban exports to China grew by 80%, reaching $30 million. These figures are encouraging, although still below 2017 levels. In terms of tourism, Air China launched a direct flight between Beijing and Havana in 2024, leading to a 50% increase in Chinese tourist arrivals.

The Cuban energy crisis: a humanitarian emergency

One of the most serious problems currently facing Cuba is the energy crisis. Unable to modernize its thermoelectric power plants due to US sanctions that prevent the purchase of spare parts, the island suffers from prolonged and frequent blackouts that severely affect the quality of life of the population.

Cuba is committed to developing renewable energy. Around 50 solar parks are currently under construction, with plans for a hundred more by 2028. But this is still not enough: 150 would be needed immediately to meet current demand.

China, a leading technological power, has the material and financial resources to support Cuba in this transition. It offers competitive prices, short delivery times, and advantageous loans without political conditions, unlike institutions such as the IMF. It is therefore well placed to play a central role in resolving this energy crisis.

With a population of 9 million, Cuba is equivalent, on a Chinese scale, to a city like Xi’an, barely the tenth most populous in the country. For Beijing, providing aid to Cuba would be a modest effort. But for the island, such support would be vital.

Furthermore, due to its unjustified inclusion on the US list of countries that support terrorism, nearly a hundred international banks have ceased all cooperation with Cuba. The island urgently needs financing. China could, in a strong gesture, grant it a substantial zero-interest loan over 50 years to guarantee the essential needs of its population.

Cuba and the BRICS: a partner with high moral value

Cuba is, above all, a moral power. For 65 years, it has resisted pressure from the United States without ever renouncing its principles. This courage has earned it immense prestige, especially in the Global South. Its membership of the BRICS embodies the values that this group defends: sovereignty, equity, reciprocity, and solidarity.

Cuba is also a medical powerhouse.

It has eight doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, almost three times more than France. Since the 1960s, it has exported its medical services to more than 50 countries. The Henry Reeve Brigade, made up of doctors specialising in emergency situations, has intervened in Haiti, in Africa during the Ebola epidemic and in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, several hundred Cuban health professionals are working in Italy.

The island trains thousands of foreign doctors through the Latin American School of Medicine, with nearly 5,000 graduates per year. Its high-level biotechnology sector has developed innovative medicines: Cimavax against lung cancer, treatments for diabetes, and several vaccines against COVID-19.

A call to China’s historical responsibility

Today, Cuba deserves to be supported. The island has always shown solidarity with peoples fighting for their emancipation. It is time for it, in turn, to receive active, concrete, and lasting solidarity.

A great revolution, such as the Chinese Revolution, has the capacity and legitimacy to provide such assistance. It would not only be an act of friendship, but also a gesture of historical justice.

 

-Salim Lamrani is a professor, historian, and essayist in France, whose books have been translated into several languages. He is a lecturer in Spanish-American civilization at the University of La Réunion, a researcher at CRIMIC of Sorbonne University and GRIHAL of the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin. He has also been a lecturer at Paris-Sorbonne University.

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Rebelión has published this article with the author’s permission under a Creative Commons license, respecting his freedom to publish it in other sources.