Cuba is turning over hundreds of state-run barber shops and beauty salons² to employees in what may be the start of a long-expected privatisation drive.

古巴政府将把数百家国营理发店和美容沙龙转交给雇员经营，这或许是其国民期待已久的私有化进程的开始。

All barbers and hairdressers in shops with three seats or fewer will be allowed to rent the space and pay taxes instead of getting a monthly wage.

The retail³（零售的） sector⁴ has long been derided⁵ for（因……而嘲笑） poor service and rampant⁶（猖獗的，狂暴的） theft.

The country's former President, Fidel Castro, nationalised all small businesses in 1968.

'Slow and cautious'

Now his younger brother and successor Raul Castro is trying to modernise⁷ the system without jumping to full-scale capitalism⁸（资本主义） .

Other communist countries such as China and Vietnam have long since pushed through market reforms while maintaining political control.

President Castro's first economic reforms involved giving unproductive（不毛的，不生产的） state-owned land to private farmers.

Some taxi drivers are allowed to work for themselves.

This is his first attempt to deal with shops in the retail and service sector.

It is likely to be a gradual process, though.

These beauty salon¹ changes have not been officially announced or mentioned in the state-controlled press.

In a recent speech to the Young Communist League, Raul Castro acknowledged（承认，告知） that people were impatient for change but warned that he planned to move slowly and cautiously.