China’s Xi seeks energy deals in Venezuela

CARACAS (AFP) ― Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived Sunday in Venezuela, the third leg of a Latin American tour aimed at bolstering trade with the region and sealing energy deals.

The Chinese leader’s charm offensive, which has already taken him to Brazil and Argentina and will next bring him to Cuba, seeks to secure new bilateral trade deals, particularly for coveted raw materials.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro greeted Xi as he landed at the Maiquetia airport that serves Caracas, with dozens of dancers and musicians performing traditional musical pieces.

Following a visit to the tomb of revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar, Xi will meet with Maduro and address reporters. On Monday, he will meet with the leader of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, and sign a series of agreements with the Venezuelan government.

During the nearly 15 years that late president Hugo Chavez was in power, China became a strategic ally of Venezuela in America’s backyard.

China is the second largest buyer of Venezuelan oil, with an average daily volume of 640,000 barrels, in part to pay off Venezuela’s debt of around $17 billion.

Both countries aim to increase the number of exports in the coming years to 1 million barrels a day.

Xi hopes to further develop his country’s strategic relationship with Venezuela, just as Caracas’s ties with the United States ― the region’s traditional political and economic powerhouse ― are arguably at their lowest point ever.

The countries, which have not had ambassadors in each other’s capitals since 2010, had poor relations during the leadership of late President Hugo Chavez and ties have remained strained under his successor, Maduro.

By contrast, relations have been warming between China and Venezuela where bilateral trade has been steadily rising, exceeding $20 billion in 2012.

Xi’s visit to Caracas is sandwiched between the Chinese leader’s triumphant stay in Argentina, where he secured several major trade deals, and travel to longtime communist ally Cuba.

On Monday, Xi heads to Cuba, where he is to announce plans to build a factory producing “biosensors” for monitoring the blood of diabetics and other patients suffering from chronic illness, Cuban media reported.