Castro said the locomotives are a symbol of friendship between Cuba and China, calling China the "principal locomotive" of economic development in the world, according to the Sunday edition of Cuba's Communist Party daily, Granma.

Saturday's event, which was not open to the international news media, was attended by Cuban and Chinese officials.

Ambassador Zhao Rongxian said Cuba-China relations are focused on promoting the construction of socialism in both countries.

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The arrival of the 12 new locomotives and 80 buses purchased from China was reported by Cuban media last Monday.

The value of the locomotives, which were bought last year with credit, plus the cost to transport them was more than US$15 million (HK$117 million), according to Granma. The 80 buses are part of a 1,000-bus deal worth more than US$100 million.

About 300 of the buses will be used for tourism to transport construction workers, students and social workers from one province to another, Castro said. The remaining 700 will be for inter-province travel for the general population.

Cuba's internal transport system steadily deteriorated after the crushing economic crisis of the early to mid- 1990s caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba's longtime backer. The government stepped up recovery efforts early last year, repairing 60 locomotives and 1,800 railway cars.

Castro said Saturday it had been impossible to devote funds to the island's railway system during the 1990s, but that dramatic improvement in the Cuban economy allowed for the recent purchase of the Chinese equipment.

The Cuban leader said the Chinese locomotives were superior to those manufactured in the United States and much more affordable.

Each Chinese locomotive cost 37 percent of what a similar one from the United States would cost, Castro said. ASSOCIATED PRESS