On June 25, China and Cuba officially launched their first regularly scheduled international freight corridor.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Cuba's Transport Minister, Eduardo Rodriguez Davila, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Debora Rivas, Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Hua Xin, and senior representatives from both countries' airlines.

Built on the existing Beijing-Havana passenger service, this new air link will operate two weekly flights, each with a 20-tonne cargo capacity.

It slashes transit times for goods shipped from China from several weeks by sea to under 24 hours by air, meeting the urgent, high-value transport needs of Sino-Cuban trade.