Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla in Beijing on November 11, 2026. Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry

China will firmly support Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests, and in opposing sanctions, blockades and external interference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Cuban counterpart at a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Experts said that the two countries have offered regional countries a replicable cooperation paradigm for safeguarding their development rights and interests and expanding their space for strategic autonomy.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held talks with Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla in Beijing, Xinhua reported.

During the talks, Wang said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, party-to-party and state-to-state relations have continued to develop, and the traditional friendship has taken on new vigor and vitality. China stands ready to work with the Cuban side to jointly implement the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state, steadily consolidate and advance China-Cuba friendly relations, and continue to build a China-Cuba community with a shared future, he added.

For his part, Rodriguez said China has long been a good partner for Cuba in its socialist development. Cuba stands ready to work with China to jointly explore a path for bilateral relations that delivers benefits to peoples of both countries, according to Rodriguez, per Xinhua.

China and Cuba are good friends, good comrades and good brothers, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday, adding that the visit by Special Envoy Rodríguez speaks volumes about the high political mutual trust between the two countries. 

High-level exchanges between the two sides have been remarkably frequent this year. Wang has held in-person or phone talks with Rodriguez separately in February, March and May.

Wu Hongying, director of the Institute of Regional and International Studies at Hubei University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that sustained high-level exchanges between the two sides help to consolidate the bedrock of their long-standing cooperation and carry forward outcomes from prior talks.

Against a backdrop of frequent geopolitical flare-ups and turbulent global conditions, frequent exchanges can further cement political mutual trust and serve as a stabilizer amid prevailing uncertainty, Wu added.

In addition to his roles as Cuban Foreign Minister and a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, Rodriguez also serves as the special envoy of the PCC and the Cuban Government.

"Dual special envoy" means that Rodriguez is positioned to directly compare notes on the overall party-to-party and state-to-state relationship and on major international issues, rather than being confined to routine bilateral consultations, Pan Deng, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Region Law Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.

China is Cuba's major goods trading partner, while Cuba is China's fifth-largest trading partner in the Caribbean. Data shows that bilateral trade between China and Cuba reached $1.311 billion in 2025, up 43.3 percent year-on-year, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

However, normal cooperation between China and Cuba has faced interference from some Western countries. When asked about Washington's new round of sanctions related to Cuba, including on two Chinese companies, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on November 6 that China-Cuba cooperation is completely above-board.

During Wednesday's meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang noted that the world is facing unprecedented changes in a century, and no matter how the situation evolves, China will firmly support Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests, and in opposing sanctions, blockades and external interference.

China's firm support for Cuba in upholding its own interests and deepening practical cooperation also demonstrates its image as a responsible major country, as it puts genuine multilateralism into practice, experts said.

Rodriguez expressed Cuba's gratitude to China for its invaluable support for Cuba's national development, particularly in resisting external blockade and interference. Cuba has consistently and firmly adhered to the one-China principle and opposes any foreign meddling in China's internal affairs, he added.

China plays an important role in upholding world peace, championing multilateralism and building a more democratic international order. Cuba and China share considerable common ground and broad consensus on international and regional issues, according to Rodriguez.

Pan said the two sides have coordinated their voices through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to advance the reform of the global governance system, practice genuine multilateralism, and offer a replicable cooperation paradigm for regional countries to collectively safeguard their development rights and interests and expand their space for strategic autonomy.