Reply #6: Cuba, China sign oil production contract; contract's value not announced [View All]

[Scurrilous]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1821&ncid=721&e=10&u=/cpress/20050131/ca_pr_on_bu/cuba_china_oil

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"Cuba signed a production contract with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or SINOPEC, to work in areas around the island believed to contain oil deposits, the government announced Monday.

The agreement was reached in an early Sunday meeting attended by Li Lianfu, China's ambassador to Cuba; Cuba's Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia; and Minister of Government Ricardo Cabrisas, according to an official note in Granma, the Communist party daily newspaper.

"The contract confirms ascending political and commercial relations between the two countries," the front-page note said.

It did not say what the contract was worth.

The two Communist countries forged a stronger economic partnership in November during a two-day visit to Cuba by Chinese President Hu Jintao in which he agreed to multimillion-dollar investment in the island's key nickel industry and increased Chinese involvement in Cuban tourism and telecommunications."