Venezuela's Maduro visits China to enhance bilateral ties amid deepening China-West tensions
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is arriving in China on Friday for a one-week visit aimed at boosting cooperation between Caracas and Beijing, China's foreign ministry said on Friday.
"At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro Moros will pay a state visit to China from September 8 to 14," foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez visited Shanghai and Beijing this week, meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in one of the highest-level China visits by officials from Caracas in years, amid deepening tensions between Beijing and Western capitals.
"China and Venezuela have forged an unbreakable, ironclad friendship, and China firmly supports Venezuela in safeguarding its national independence and national dignity," Wang said.
"We reinforced our bilateral relationship, expanded strategic cooperation and joint international work for peace and the respect of the UN charter's principles and goals," Rodriguez said in a post on social media website X.
Cooperation in the energy sector is likely to be a key focus of Maduro's trip to secure fresh oil investment from Beijing and discuss a possible joint venture between Venezuelan and Chinese petroleum firms, Bloomberg reported.
Caracas has in the past traded oil to receive funds and equipment from the Asian powerhouse to bolster its crisis-hit economy, which is suffering from some of the world's worst inflation.
According to data from Kpler, despite US sanctions on Venezuelan oil, China imported around 283 million barrels of crude from the country last year.
Chinese state-owned PetroChina holds a 40 percent stake in the Sinovensa project in the Orinoco belt alongside Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.
China is the world's largest importer of crude oil, while Venezuela has the largest proven reserves in the world.
Beijing extended about $50 billion worth of loans to Venezuela in the 2010s. It also provided equipment and technological assistance, while Caracas paid for its debts with shipments of oil.
Both China and Venezuela share strong anti-US sentiments, as the US has slapped numerous sanctions against Beijing and Caracas.
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