Chinese president, premier congratulate Cuban leaders on 50th anniversary of revolution

BEIJING, Jan. 1 (Chinese media) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen

Jiabao on Thursday sent warm congratulations and good wishes to the Communist

Party of Cuba, and the Cuban government and people on behalf of the Communist

Party of China (CPC), and the Chinese government and people on the 50th

anniversary of Cuba's revolution.

In his congratulatory message to Fidel Castro, first secretary of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Hu said that the victory of

the Cuban revolution had helped the country realize national independence and

set it on the path toward socialism.

Under the strong leadership of Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba over

the past half a century, the Cuban people safeguarded state sovereignty and

national pride, kept to the socialist road and achieved admirable success in

economic construction and social development, winning widespread respect and

acclaim from the international community including China, the message said.

Over the past years, the CPC and Communist Party of Cuba have supported and

helped each other in the common cause of socialist construction. Friendly

relations between China and Cuba have developed smoothly, mutually beneficial

cooperation in various fields between the two countries have achieved fruitful

results and the friendship between the two peoples have also been enhanced, the

message said.

China is willing to join hands with Cuba to further deepen friendly

cooperation between the two countries and boost the bilateral friendly ties to a

new high, it added.

In a joint message to Raul Castro, president of the council of the state of

Cuba, Hu and Wen said that over the past half a century, the Cuban government

and people, in face of the changing world situation, sought a new road of

development suitable to its national situation and achieved notable results in

economic construction and social development, which China appreciated very much.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 48 years ago, China and Cuba,

through concerted efforts, have made fruitful achievements in mutually

beneficial and friendly cooperation in the fields such as politics, economy and

trade, culture and education, science and technology and public health, the

message said.

The China-Cuba friendly cooperation conforms to the fundamental interests

of the two countries and two peoples and is conducive to world peace, stability

and development, it said, adding that China is willing to work with Cuba to

continue to consolidate and deepen the traditional friendship between the two

countries and gradually enhance mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation in

order to benefit the two peoples.