President Hu Jintao agreed to put off some of Cuba's debt payments and gave the island 80 million USD for hospital modernization and other projects during a visit on Tuesday to strengthen ties between the two countries. His two-day stopover, which included a meeting with former leader Fidel Castro, deepened China's already-substantial involvement in Cuba. The two countries signed accords on Tuesday that put off for 10 years payments for an unspecified trade debt Cuba ran up through 1995, and for five years a 7.2 million USD credit China granted in 1998.
