HAVANA, April 21: Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public for almost nine months, met with a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official for an hour on Friday, Cuban state media said.

Pictures published on Saturday by Cuban newspapers showed a recovering Castro meeting with Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Standing Committee of China's Communist Party Politburo.

One photograph published in Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma showed the 80-year-old Cuban leader, who wore a track suit, sitting next to Wu as a young Chinese interpreter takes notes. Another shows them shaking hands.

The meeting with the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Cuba in more than a year was the latest sign that Castro is resuming some duties.—Reuters