Beijing, China.- China and Cuba completed the assembly of their first joint biotechnology innovation center, built in the central province of Hunan with equipment and laboratories designed by specialists from the island, diplomatic sources confirmed today.

The Cuban embassy here explained that three experts from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) worked on the installation of the devices and areas where projects and technologies obtained by Cuban scientific personnel will be developed.

The center is the result of bilateral cooperation and is part of the policy approved by the government of China to stimulate innovation capacities through local administrations, the source added.

Its inauguration is scheduled for the end of February and a further group of Cuban professionals will be incorporated later.

The center stands as a tangible result of the exchanges between the two socialist countries as they approach 60 years of diplomatic relations.

In fact, the cooperation between the parties is dynamic and multifaceted, with emphasis on areas such as human resources training, renewable energy and biotechnology.

In 2003, the Changchun Heber Biological Technology joint venture opened in the northeastern province of Jilin and the two countries have also worked together in the ChangHeber company.

With Biotech they elaborate and commercialize the Cuban-produced humanized monoclonal antibody Nimotuzumab-R3, to treat brain tumors.

Two agreements reached in 2018 extended this collaboration by promoting the creation of new joint ventures in the health sector in both states, specifically, to produce medicines obtained on the island, with international patents and worldwide recognition for their effectiveness.