Twelve Chinese locomotives are currently on their way to Cuba, making China the firs Asian country to export equipment of this kind to improve Cuba's rail service, the official daily Granma said on Monday.

The DF7G-C diesel-electric locomotives with 2,500 horse power were shipped Sunday from China's northeastern port of Tianjin, Granma said.

"The 12 locomotives bound for Cuba are the first that China has exported to Latin America and the Caribbean, making this trade operation another symbol of growing links between China and Cuba," Alberto Blanco, a Cuban diplomat in China, was quoted as saying.

China also sold Cuba 1,000 buses this year, 200 of which are already in use to ease the country's passenger and cargo transport strains.

China was Cuba's fourth largest trading partner in 2004, and became the second largest at the end of September 2005, according to the Cuban foreign trade ministry.

Trade volume between China and Cuba totaled 259 million US dollars in 2004. In the first nine months of this year, it had surpassed 550 million dollars.

Source: Xinhua