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The mixed company SUMAI S.A., the first marketing company established between Cuba and China, is preparing to open a store in the 23 and 10 market in El Vedado, Havana, where it will sell everything from solar panels to food, all priced in U.S. dollars.
The company has not yet set an official opening date, although its executives assure that the project is progressing.
SUMAI S.A. was officially presented in January 2025 and is made up of the Cuban firm ALBUS S.A. and the Chinese company Hangzhou Iunke Industrial Development Co., Ltd., which emerged under the Investment and Trade Platform for Latin America (PICLA), a joint Cuba-China initiative framed within the so-called Belt and Road Initiative.
Eimy Iturralde, commercial manager of SUMAI S.A., stated that the company was established to respond to the regime's policy of opening wholesale and retail trade to foreign investment, approved in October 2022, with the goal of providing "a broader, more varied, and competitive offering."
The Vedado location will combine wholesale and retail sales, featuring a catalog that includes equipment for renewable energy, construction materials, hardware, appliances, food, household goods, and school supplies.
The company is authorized to operate exclusively in dollars, and payments can be made in cash or with authorized cards in the country, with different conditions for wholesale buyers.
Before arriving in Havana, SUMAI conducted its testing phase in Camagüey starting on December 31, 2025, where it generated significant popular interest in the sale of monocrystalline solar panels rated at 590 watts with a maximum efficiency of 23.2%, amidst the serious electrical crisis affecting the island.
That crisis, with a generation deficit exceeding 2,000 MW and blackouts lasting more than twenty hours a day recorded at the end of 2025, turns the offer of energy solutions into one of the most sought-after products for Cubans who have access to foreign currency.
The arrival of SUMAI in Vedado, one of the most populated and visible neighborhoods in the capital, amplifies the reach of an initiative that the regime presents as progress, but in practice, it is only accessible to those who have access to dollars, a minority in a country where the average salary does not reach 20 dollars a month.
The company was formalized in the presence of the Minister of Domestic Trade, Betsy Díaz Velázquez, and the Chinese ambassador to Cuba, Hua Xin, highlighting the political weight that the regime places on this alliance with Beijing.
As part of its expansion strategy, SUMAI plans to open a network of stores in several provinces, with a presence planned in Havana, Camagüey, Matanzas, and Pinar del Río, while by 2026, the PICLA platform has already extended operations to Holguín.
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