On May 12, 2005, at the invitation of Chairman Alarcon of Cuban National Assembly of People's Power, Chairman Jia Qinglin of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) arrived at Havana, capital of Cuba by a special plane, kicking off the official friendly visit to the country. Senior Cuban officials including Chairman Alarcon, Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Li Lianfu and staffs of the Chinese embassy in Cuba welcomed Jia at the airport.

Jia delivered a short written speech at the airport, saying that Cuba is an important country in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Over the past half century the Cuban Communist Party, government and people have made great achievements in maintaining the national sovereignty, developing the national economy and raising people's living standards. The Chinese government and people sincerely wish the Cuban people score new achievements constantly on the road of socialist construction. The two peoples enjoy profound traditional friendship. At present the two countries are expanding bilateral exchanges and cooperation in all fields and have harvested fruitful results. In November 2004 the successful state visit of President Hu Jintao to Cuba injected new energy into the all-round development of bilateral ties. China expects to work with Cuba to create a better future for China-Cuba friendly cooperation.

Jia arrived at Havana on the afternoon of May 12 after wrapping up his visit to Mexico. On the same evening, Jia met with the staffs of the Chinese embassy in Cuba and the representatives of Chinese-funded organizations and overseas Chinese in that country, expressed cordial greetings and good wishes to them on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, introduced the domestic economic situation and the development of the relations across the Taiwan Straits to them and encouraged them to serve as the bridge of communications, the link of cooperation and the ambassador of friendship between the Chinese and Cuban people.