Cuba receives a new donation of 15,000 tons of rice from China

Havana.- Cuba received this Thursday the third shipment of 15,000 tons of rice, which is part of a donation from the Chinese government totaling 60,000 tons of the cereal as emergency food assistance in the face of the severe economic crisis on the island.

The fourth and final shipment that will complete this donation -the largest China has sent to the island in recent years- will arrive in September, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Mincex) on social media.

At the donation handover ceremony at the port of Havana, Beijing’s ambassador to Havana, Hua Xin, said that with this new shipment of rice, the message arrives that “China stands with Cuba“.

“We will continue to support Cuba and its people, who firmly oppose foreign interference from the United States,” the Chinese diplomat pointed out, according to state media reports.

Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva expressed “profound gratitude” at the handover ceremony for the new rice donation from the Asian nation and stated that relations between Cuba and China are “indestructible”.

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Pérez-Oliva, also responsible for the Mincex portfolio, highlighted that China “extends its hand” to Cuba while the blockade intensifies and the energy siege by the United States against his country sharpens.

Last week, the Chinese embassy in the Cuban capital delivered a second donation of 5,000 photovoltaic systems to support rural electrification, while the island faces a severe energy crisis, aggravated since last January by an oil blockade imposed by the Washington government.

Chinese President Xi Jinping approved aid to Cuba in January that includes $80 million in financial assistance and 60,000 tons of rice. In 2024, China had already granted another $100 million donation to the Caribbean country.

Cuba’s economy is going through a severe and prolonged crisis, with an economic contraction of 15% over the last five years, according to official reports. The island is suffering from a chronic shortage of food, medicine, and fuel, along with massive blackouts and high inflation.

Havana and Beijing maintain close political and economic relations in which the Asian country figures as one of the main allies of the island.