People around the world are saying their last good-byes to Cuba’s revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. He died on Friday at age 90. Chinese President Xi Jinping offered condolences to the Cuban people.

CCTV’s Gavin Blackburn reports.

Fidel Castro was the last of the 20th Century’s revolutionary leaders. A charismatic leader who endured well into the 21st.

MORE COVERAGE OF FIDEL CASTRO ON CCTV

Cuba was among the first countries in the western hemisphere to establish diplomatic relations with China. An era when Fidel Castro was on the world stage alongside Chairman Mao Zedong.

Generations of Chinese leaders kept close ties with him.

President Xi Jinping offered condolences to the Cuban people, remembering Castro as “a great figure of our times”.

“The Chinese people lost a close comrade and a sincere friend when Castro passed away. His glorious figure and his great achievement will last in history,” said Xi.

Fidel Castro invited Xi Jinping to his home in July 2014. Moringa and mulberry trees grown from seeds from China flourished there.

In September 2016, Premier Li Keqiang visited Castro in Havana, offering support to Cuba’s development.

A shared history has allowed bilateral relations to develop through Chinese foreign investment and jointly developed projects.

Chinese refrigerators are found in Cuban homes, China’s “Yutong” buses ply Cuba’s highways, and China’s Union-pay cards are accepted at Cuban ATMs.

“Politically, economically, and in other fields, these two countries are good friends,” says Professor Jiang Shixue at Shanghai University. “They support each other, they have economic cooperation in all kinds of fields.”

Many older Chinese still remember the 1995 visit, when the Cuban leader was greeted warmly in Beijing, on the Great Wall and at Mao’s Memorial.

Even if he feels like an icon from another era, Fidel Castro’s passing is being mourned deeply and genuinely in China.