Senior official of the Chinese Communist Party Wu Guanzheng on Friday met in Havana with First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Wu, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) who arrived here Thursday for a four-day good-will visit, met with Castro in a hospital in Havana and handed him a letter signed by CPC General Secretary and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Castro expressed his thanks for the letter and read it aloud during the meeting. In the letter, Hu said the party-to-party and state-to-state relations between China and Cuba are developing with close high-level contacts and frequent exchanges of visits at various levels, and a fresh headway has been made in bilateral cooperation of mutual benefit.

The friendship between the two countries has withstood the test of the volatile international situation, Hu said, adding that the Chinese party and government attach great importance to the friendly cooperative relations with Cuba and will unswervingly carry out the policy of maintaining long-term friendly cooperation with it.

Castro spoke highly of the Sino-Cuban ties and asked Wu to convey his best wishes to Hu and other Chinese leaders. He said Cuba regards China as a good friend, and he feels very happy with every achievement China has ever made.

Castro also said that strengthening the Cuba-China friendly relations is a set policy of Cuba, and the Cuban side is willing to closely coordinate with the Chinese side to work for a brighter future for bilateral cooperation.

The meeting lasted for more than an hour, during which Wu and Castro also exchanged views on the current international situation and issues of common concern.

Earlier in the day, Wu met with Machado Ventura, member of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee and Vice President of the Council of Ministers and discussed ways of promoting bilateral cooperation.

Editor: Yan