The Chinese Embassy in Cuba on Thursday hosted a ceremony to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which falls on Sunday.
Chinese ambassador to Cuba Chen Xi said China has achieved a considerable success for its people since 1949.
"We have achieved a stable and consecutive development of the national economy in all areas and we have greatly improved the living standards of all our people," said the ambassador.
In front of some 400 guests, Chen said that in the past year, China successfully met world challenges and made new progress.
"During the first half of the year the economy registered a 6.9-percent growth while the high-tech sector and emerging industries have made significant contributions to the development of the country," he said.
In the international arena, the ambassador said, China remains a builder of world peace and an advocate of global development.
"We advocate fostering a community of shared destiny, we propose the construction of new international relations characterized by cooperation and mutual benefit and we persist in the equality of all countries, regardless of their size, power and level of development," he said.
Regarding bilateral relations whose 57th anniversary was commemorated on Thursday, Chen said that during these years, political and economic ties between the two countries have been strengthening ever more.
"In recent years, under the attention of President Xi Jinping and President Raul Castro, political trust between China and Cuba has intensified and exchanges and cooperation have deepened in all areas," he said.
The Chinese ambassador also expressed the sympathy of the Chinese government and people after the devastating Hurricane Irma devastated the island two weeks ago.
"The Chinese government decided to offer a package of humanitarian aid to those affected by the hurricane," he said.
The reception was attended by Secretary General of the Cuban Workers' Union and member of the Communist Party Political Bureau Ulises Guilarte, Minister of Energy and Mines Alfredo Lopez, and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelino Medina, among other government officials.
