China delivered a second donation of 5,000 photovoltaic systems to Cuba on Friday in a ceremony in Havana, with both sides reaffirming cooperation to advance the island’s energy transition and secure electricity for rural households and essential public services.

The handover took place at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment and was attended by Chinese Ambassador Hua Xin and Cuban Vice Prime Minister and head of that ministry, Oscar Pérez‑Oliva Fraga.

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Ambassador Hua Xin described the equipment as a gift from the Chinese people, stating that Beijing will keep supporting Cuba on the path toward energy sovereignty and will work together to build a closer community of shared future. He added that the donation is part of the Belt and Road Initiative and a tribute to Fidel Castro, while contributing to improving well‑being and strengthening energy progress across Cuba’s 169 municipalities.

Vice Prime Minister Pérez‑Oliva valued the arrival of the systems, noting that they come at a time of difficulties in the national electro‑energy system, which he attributed to the U.S. commercial, financial, and energy blockade.

The first Chinese donation of another 5,000 photovoltaic systems was delivered in November 2025.

Cuba is enduring one of its worst energy crises since the 1990s, with six nationwide blackouts recorded so far in 2026. The period has been marked by the U.S. energy blockade, under which only one oil tanker – the Russian vessel Anatoli Kolodkyn – has reached the island this year.

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