Bilateral ties between Beijing and Caracas are developing at strikingly fast speed in all aspects for benefits of both

If the economic exchanges between the United States and Latin America are still much larger than trade between China and Latin America, the speed of change which characterizes the relations between China and Latin America is striking. A decade ago commerce between China and what was often referred as the US' backyard was marginal, now it is worth over $250 billion.

Within the dynamics of relations between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, relations between China and Brazil, Mexico and Argentina constitute intra-G 20 interactions, but when, 12 years ago, Jiang Zemin and Hugo Chavez decided to forge a strategic partnership, the two leaders gave relations between China and Venezuela special significance.

Nicolas Maduro, who is visiting China for the first time as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from Sunday to Tuesday, developed strong connections with China during his six years as minister of foreign affairs, and he visited China six times after he took office in 1999.

A series of high level exchanges have set the stage for Maduro's visit, in May, Li Yuanchao, China's vice-president was in Caracas, Venezuelan Oil and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez visited China in June, and, in the following month, both the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly Diosdado Cabello and Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela's vice-president, had discussions in Beijing with their Chinese counterparts.

Relations between China and Venezuela are comprehensive, encompassing the economic, cultural, political, military and geopolitical. China is Venezuela's second-largest trade partner, and Venezuela ranks fourth among China's Latin American trade partners. Last year 15 percent of Venezuelan exports were absorbed by the Chinese market, while 17 percent of Venezuela's imports came from China. Bilateral trade grew from $350 million in 2000 to $23 billion in 2012. Beijing has provided over $36 billion in financing to Caracas and the strategic partnership is expressed in more than 300 agreements of cooperation.

China shares technology with Venezuela. Beijing supplied Venezuela's first satellite VENESAT-1 Simon Bolivar in 2008, and Beijing has just delivered full control of the second one the Miranda satellite launched into orbit from China last year. Huawei, the Chinese global information and communications technology firm, established its first company store outside its country of origin in Venezuela.

Cooperation in infrastructure, at the Port of Cabello and in railways, and in energy three new electricity plants will be built by 2016 also benefits the 30 million inhabitants of Venezuela.

Moreover, the relations between Beijing and Caracas include military ties. Venezuela bought Chinese-built Hongdu JL-8 trainer jets, also known as the Karakorum-8, and a Shaanxi Y-8 military cargo plane operated by the Venezuelan Air Force recently delivered humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

As the world's second-largest economy, and a global power capable of balancing the US' influence in Latin America, China is obviously of the highest importance for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Beijing also views its ties with the fourth-largest economy in Latin America strategically.

With the world's largest oil reserves 297 billion barrels by conservative estimates compared with an estimated 265 billion barrels for Saudi Arabia Venezuela, a historical pillar of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is a key part of the Chinese energy security equation.

In the first four months of 2013 Caracas exported 626,000 barrels per day to China. Although it exported 754,000 barrels to the US during the same period, it is expected that its exports to China will reach 1 million barrels in the coming two years. Last year, Beijing bought 5.1 million barrels a day from foreign markets.

Agriculture can also be an important part of the bilateral relations, the fertile land of Venezuela 30 million hectares not fully exploited can be better used in order to benefit the Venezuelan population and to answer China's considerable food security challenge.

While in the coming years, tourism can also enrich Sino-Venezuelan ties. Venezuela, known as the "Land of Grace", has a highly attractive biodiversity and Caracas can evolve into a transportation hub in the America's mirroring the role played by Miami in the north of the Caribbean Sea.

During Maduro's visit to Beijing an agreement will be signed on establishing a Confucius Institute in Caracas, a platform that will help deepen the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The Sino-Venezuelan strategic partnership can't be separated from the broader Sino-Latin American relations. Maduro's government is already involved in the rotating presidency of MERCOSUR, the Southern Common Market among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and Venezuela, which attaches great importance to the cohesiveness of the Latin American continent, will use its position to deepen the dialogue between China and the MERCOSUR. In a sense, China could share the revealing MERCOSUR motto, "Nuestro Norte es el Sur", "Our North is the South".

While the newly formed Pacific Alliance Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru has been designed to better connect with a China-centered Asia Caracas will work to develop its bilateral relations with Beijing but also to have a more autonomous South-South intercontinental dialogue between China and Latin America.

With Venezuela acting as one of the internal catalysts for the solidarity among the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and China calling for more Latin American cohesiveness, the continent is gradually coming closer to the Venezuelan dream of social progress and unity.

David Gosset is director of the Academia Sinica Europaea at CEIBS, and founder of the Euro-China Forum, Temir Porras Poncelen is special advisor to the President of Venezuela and President of BANDES, the Venezuelan Economic and Social Development Bank.

(China Daily 09/23/2013 page8)