Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has begun his first state visit to China since taking office in April. He has held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing. Earlier he met with leaders from Chinese companies, witnessed the signing deals on energy, agriculture and public welfare projects.
President Maduro has been posting his blog about his meetings with Chinese company leaders and described the morning as "fruitful". He announced on his micoblog that "I have met with leaders of China National Petroleum Corporation. We have agreed to start a joint venture to drill in Junin 10. And we have agreed on the preliminary output."
Other deals have been signed covering agriculture, water conservation, public transportation, and telecommunication and housing construction.
Relations between China and Venezuela strengthened greatly during Maduro’s nearly seven-year stint as foreign minister during Chavez’s administration.
Trade between the two countries reached almost 24 billion US dollars in 2012. Venezuela is now China’s fourth largest trading partner in Latin America.
Source: Xinhua
