After an eight-day tour crawling through China in search of an economic lifeline for his country, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ended the trip in Beijing on Wednesday, where he was received by his counterpart Xi Jinping.
The leader of the second world power opened the doors of the Great Hall of the People, the Tiananmen chamber where heads of state are usually received, to the Venezuelan to sign a new agreement that will “elevate” relations between both countries.
That on paper translates into a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, a symbolic title, but one that represents the highest level in Chinese diplomacy and which reaches a small list of countries that also include Pakistan or Russia.
Maduro’s visit to the capital has allowed the Venezuelan to take a photo with the powerful Chinese boss, but the most fruitful stops, in terms of seeking financing for a country devastated by inflation, which was what he came for, have been in the southern city of Shenzhen and in the financial epicenter Shanghai.
In the latter city, Maduro had a meeting with the president of the development bank of the BRICS group, former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who supported the dictator by highlighting that the bloc of emerging economies considers Venezuela “a partner, an ally and a friend.” “.
China became a key lender to Venezuela in 2007, when, with Hugo Chávez as president, it injected the Latin American country for the first time with funds for ambitious oil and infrastructure projects. In the past decade, Beijing, which is Caracas’ main creditor, lent around $50 billion to Venezuela, which paid part of the debt with oil shipments.
Maduro’s visit shows that both countries are recovering the good tone of their relations after a few years of cooling, and in a current context in which tensions between Beijing and Washington continue to grow. The meeting between the Chinese and Venezuelan leaders marks the first time the two have sat together in five years.
During his trip, Maduro also tried to win the sympathy of the Chinese people with a visit to one of the country’s considered sacred mountains, Taishan, in Shandong province. A gesture that pleased the state media, which gave extensive coverage.
In Beijing, in addition to the meeting with Xi, the Venezuelan leader also met with the director of the China International Center for Poverty Reduction, Liu Junwen, one of the architects of the development programs that led the Asian country to announce A couple of years ago absolute poverty had been eradicated.
