On Dec. 24, Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz and He Lifeng, chairman of China’s National Reform and Development Commission (NRDC) signed a cooperation agreement to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The agreement is intended to begin the process of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2018 when Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was in China, which laid out Cuba’s short-, medium- and long-term economic and social development goals to be carried out with China, as Cuba’s strategic partner, in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.