Cuban President Fidel Castro on Saturday steps down from one of 12 diesel locomotives that arrived in Havana by ship from China a week earlier. [Reuters]

    HAVANA, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Cuba's ties with China will continue to grow closer, Cuban leader Fidel Castro said in an interview published on the Sunday edition of Juventud Rebelde newspaper.

    "We have just received 12 locomotives from China," he said. "They are simply the best our country has ever received. They are the most modern, most efficient and of best value."

    "Today, China is the world's main economic development engine and it will keep on developing itself for a long time," he said.

    The new equipment was obtained on credit with preferential interest rates and repayment schedules, Castro said, noting that the deal marked the beginning of the railway sector's recovery after a 15-year economic crisis.

    China became Cuba's second-largest trading partner after Venezuela in 2005. Chinese exports to Cuba grew 95 per cent in the first 10 months of 2005 to over US$500 million, while imports rose 17 per cent to US$200 million, according to Yang Shidi, China's commercial counsellor in Havana. Enditem