Venezuela's Chavez to visit China

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao when the leader of the oil-rich Latin American nation visits China later this month, the government said Tuesday.

Chavez will meet Hu and other leaders during his visit late in September. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu,told reporters that countries will sign documents on cooperation in justice, sports and other fields.

She did not say if any energy agreements between Venezuela and the resource-hungry Asian giant would be signed during Chavez's visit, but said "the two countries are keeping consultation in this regard."
"We know that Venezuela is an important oil exporter in the world. Our energy cooperation is part of our cooperations," Jiang said
Chavez has repeatedly stressed Venezuela's need to slash its reliance on the United States by seeking new markets for its oil in China and India. V

enezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, has boosted oil shipments to China, sending 250,000 barrels of oil a day as of April and aiming to reach 500,000 barrels a day by 2010.

Last year, PDVSA sent nearly 60% of its total exports to the United States, up slightly from a year earlier. Its total exports, meanwhile, fell by 6.2%.

Accords have been signed by Venezuela and China to build three refineries in China.
Jiang said China's imports from Venezuela would not affect the Latin American country's exports to other countries. "At present, our oil imports from Venezuela make up only 4% of our total oil imports," Jiang said. "So our oil cooperation will not affect Venezuela's oil supply to other countries."

Author: Jo Amey