There are many theories about the origin of this type of grill. The first version arose in the Chinatown of Havana, Cuba. During the 50s, when Chinese immigrants worked in railway construction, they made holes in the sand and covered them with metal sheets on which they placed embers made with firewood. On the inside, they put the food they needed to cook. Some Cubans tried to "replicate" this technique using a small wooden box in which they put food covered with a metal sheet to place the grill. Over time, this grill became called “Caja China".
The second version is that said rotisserie model was invented by a Cuban who lived in Miami and wanted to continue with a Cuban tradition of "roasting" whole pigs in a box made of metal and bricks. To replicate this tradition, the person designed the “portable” model using metal and wood. The name "china" is because in Cuba (as in many Caribbean islands), this name is usually given to things or devices with a mysterious, magical, or difficult to understand operation. Therefore, the Chinese box would be a synonym for "magic box" or "mysterious box".