Exports to Cuba slump as island’s payment problems deepen amid cash crunch

Chinese exports to Cuba have plunged this year in the latest sign of a worsening in the island country’s financial situation, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Chinese exports to Cuba slumped 29.8 percent to $1 billion from January through October compared with the same period last year, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

China sends a broad array of supplies to Cuba, from machinery and transportation equipment to raw materials, chemicals and food.

The Chinese commercial office in Havana said the decline was due to Cuba’s payment problems. China ranked as Cuba’s top trading partner in terms of goods in 2016, followed by Venezuela.

“China’s exports to Cuba are experiencing difficult times and the pressure continues for many businessmen due to the economic difficulties this Caribbean nation is going through,” Hong Xiao, economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy, told Chinese business representatives attending a Havana trade fair last month, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The economic crisis in Venezuela, lower revenue from commodity exports, devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma, and the tightening of business and travel restrictions by the US have left Cuba without cash to pay some suppliers and investment partners.

Chinese exports peaked at a record $1.9 billion in 2015, nearly 60 percent above the annual average of the previous decade.