Maduro to make state visit to China from September 8-14: Beijing
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The Venezuelan President's visit comes as the oil-rich nation endeavors to stabilize its financial situation.
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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro waves upon arrival for the South American Summit at Itamaraty palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 30, 2023. (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is scheduled to visit China starting this Friday, according to an announcement from the Beijing Foreign Ministry.
This visit comes as the oil-rich nation endeavors to stabilize its financial situation.
China holds the primary position as Venezuela's creditor and maintains strong ties with this nation, which finds itself isolated on the international stage due to the unjust US-led sanctions.
Over the past decade, Venezuela has experienced an 80% reduction in its GDP due to a severe economic crisis.
"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.
China also hailed ties with Venezuela as "rock solid".
"Mutual trust between the two countries is becoming rock solid and cooperation in various fields is continuously expanding," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing on the day of the Latin American President's visit.
Earlier this week, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez made a high-level visit to China, meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Shanghai and Beijing.
"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 X, formerly known as Twitter.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the visit was also aimed at securing new investments in the oil sector from Beijing and exploring new ventures between Venezuelan and Chinese petroleum companies.
Read more: Venezuela voices interest in de-dollarization, BRICS membership
A common vision
The last time Maduro paid a visit to Xi was in 2018 when he hailed Xi for his vision of a "common destiny for humanity."
Xi likewise paid a visit to Venezuela in 2014.
The Venezuelan leader, who is known for his anti-US hegemony stances, said he envisions a future of peace without a powerful country that uses its influence to bully, control, and harm other nations.
In the 2010s, China lent Venezuela $50 billion, which the latter repaid with oil shipments.
Maduro's trip comes as G20 leaders are currently in India for a G20 summit, an event that Chinese President Xi Jinping has opted not to attend.
It also follows Xi's participation in the BRICS meeting held in South Africa last month during which China issued a number of demands in its BRICS declaration, aiming to undermine Western hegemony for the purposes of promoting a multipolar world.
One of the demands that were voiced by China in its declaration was to reform international institutions, in particular the World Bank and the IMF, which are both largely dominated by the US.
It also called for a "comprehensive reform" of the UN, which Beijing regards as biased and Western-centered.
Read more: Venezuela composes a new electoral transparency body
