The Cuban government announcement of the trip came Thursday, hours after the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said Castro would arrive there Friday. Castro has visited communist Vietnam twice before, in 1973 and 1995.
On Sunday, Castro will go to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, for the Non-Aligned summit. The dates of his stay in communist China were not announced.
The Non-Aligned Movement groups 114 mostly small and developing countries. It was formed during the Cold War to steer a neutral path between the United States and the Soviet Union and has since reinvented itself to confront challenges of globalization and U.S. military and economic might.
Castro's flight to Asia was delayed by almost four hours while he participated in a question-and-answer session with more than 100 Americans in town for business summits, participants said.
Castro excused himself shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday to go to the airport after meeting with farm industry representatives and a group of female business leaders from Seattle led by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Cuba last year bought a shipment of apples, peas and lentils from Washington state under an exception to the U.S. trade embargo. Cuban officials are also negotiating tens of millions of dollars worth of new food purchases with farm representatives attending the conference. [End]