Senior military officer offers condolences at Cuban embassy

A top military officer visited the Cuban embassy in Beijing on Wednesday to express condolences on the passing of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, a day after President Xi Jinping visited the embassy.

Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission Fan Changlong expressed condolences and laid a wreath to mourn the Cuban revolutionary leader.

The commission, China's top military commanding agency with two vice-chairmen including Fan, is headed by Xi.

Calling Castro "a close friend of the Chinese people and army", Fan said that the revolutionary leader was dedicated to friendship between the two countries and had paid a great deal of attention to exchanges involving the two militaries.

The passing of Castro is a great loss, not only for the Cuban and Latin American people, but also for peace-loving people around the world, he said.

The friendship between China and Cuba will be strengthened and developed, and the practical cooperation between the two militaries will reach a new level, he added.

Cuban Ambassador to China Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos said the visits of Chinese leaders to the embassy showed that ties between the two countries were of the highest significance.

Cuba will continue to be dedicated to the development of military ties with China, he added.

On Tuesday, when Xi visited the Cuban embassy, he called the Cuban revolutionary leader a "great friend of the Chinese people".

It was the first time that Xi has gone to an embassy to express condolences for the passing of a foreign leader since he became president in 2013.

"We mourn with deep grief the Cuban people's excellent leader and the Chinese people's great friend, Comrade Fidel Castro," Xi wrote in the book of condolences. Castro, 90, who led the Cuban Revolution, died on Friday.