China, Venezuela to reach key agreements

The governments of China and Venezuela are expected to reach several agreements as President Hugo Chavez continues his visit to the Asian country.

Chavez is scheduled to meet today with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and will sign deals allowing for increased Chinese exploration of the oil-rich Orinoco Belt. In addition, both governments are expected to sign off on a multibillion dollar investment deal as well as another pact permitting china to build Venezuelan oil tankers.

While in China, Chavez praised the revolutions in both countries:

"In the face of the collapse of global capitalism, we can say: how fortunate that China had a revolution, how fortunate that Venezuela had and still has a revolution, how fortunate that we got to know each other," he said.

Later this week, the Venezuelan president will visit Russia; in anticipation of his meeting with government officials the Venezuelan government signed an exportation deal last week with Russian natural gas giant Gazprom.

Chavez’ trip to Moscow will also come in the wake of the controversial visit of the Russian Navy’s North Sea Fleet to Venezuela.

Image- AFP

Sources- New York Times, AP, Bloomberg, forbes.com