Nicolas Maduro, President Of Venezuela, To Visit China Amid Tensions Between Beijing And The West

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will visit China from September 8 to 14, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Friday, signaling greater cooperation between the two countries amid rising tensions between Beijing and Western capitals.

According to China’s foreign ministry, Nicolas Maduro’s trip follows negotiations in Shanghai earlier this week between a Venezuelan delegation, including the country’s vice president and oil minister, and Chinese officials, including foreign minister Wang Yi.

In a post on X on Friday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez stated that the two governments were strengthening bilateral relations, expanding strategic cooperation, and international joint work in favor of peace and respect for the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.

The visit coincides with this weekend’s G20 conference in New Delhi, which China’s President Xi Jinping will not attend.

Maduro’s most recent visit to China was in 2018 when he met with Xi in Beijing.

The trip is anticipated to centre on energy investment and cooperation. China is the world’s largest crude oil importer, but Venezuela has the most proven reserves.

Despite US sanctions on Venezuelan oil, China bought over 283 million barrels, or approximately 38.8 million metric tonnes, of petroleum from the country last year. The majority of Venezuelan supplies are routed through third-party countries such as Malaysia.

In official customs data from last year and thus far this year, China reported no crude imports from Venezuela.

Along with Venezuelan national oil giant PDVSA, China’s state-owned PetroChina owns 40% of the Sinovensa project in the Orinoco belt. After the Trump administration intensified sanctions against the South American exporter, the business stopped transporting Venezuelan oil in August 2019.

Venezuela is also significantly indebted to China as a result of a $50 billion oil-for-loan agreement signed by then-President Hugo Chavez in 2007. The Maduro administration and Chinese banks agreed to a grace period for around $19 billion of this debt in 2020.

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