More than 200 entrepreneurs from China and Cuba talked business on Sunday, with both sides agreeing that a new age has arrived for business-makers as more in-depth collaboration is forecast for the future. Made-in-China items like sedans, home appliances and daily necessities are already ubiquitous in Cuban homes. But bilateral cooperation has long advanced into areas other than trading finished goods.

For example, the assembling stages for the Chinese photovoltaic and the agricultural machinery industries is now being done in Cuba. Chinese home appliance giant Haier is also planning to move part of its production process to Cuba. A bilateral 2 billion yuan, or 300 million US dollar fund that encourages joint development in biotech-industry was set up this May. It is one of many new co-operational projects in this field. Biotechnology is fast becoming an area of eye-catching growth between the two countries.

The Confucius Institute set up its Havana branch in 2009. Cuba is visa-free for Chinese passport holders, and counted some 30 thousand Chinese visitors in 2014. Interest in the socialist country continues to grow.