Caribbean in China

China plans to offer 4 billion yuan (530 million U.S. dollars) in low-interest loans to Chinese firms in three years to encourage more investment in Caribbean regions.

China will help Caribbean countries to train 2,000 government officials and various technical professionals in the period, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said at the ongoing 2nd China-Caribbean trade and economic cooperation forum held in this coastal city of east China's Fujian Province

The Vice Premier was busy this weekend. She spoke at the Xiamen Trade Fair as well. The Caribbean countries were well represented at the Fair, and I was having a tough time understanding why. There was a strong European presence, Turkey had a large booth, the US had a small embarrassing booth, Thailand, Japan and .............Barbuda? Antigua and Barbuda were passing out expensive literature (two fairly large magazines promoting the tourism industry and some pamphlets). We were struggling to find a connection, but here it is.

"We are particularly interested in learning China's experiences in tourism, industry and technology development," said Harold Lovell, minister of tourism with Antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean island covering 441.6 sq. km.