August 26, 2006
Chinese president holds talks with Venezuela's Chávez in Beijing

(Xinhua New China) - "President Hu Jintao held talks with visiting Venezuelan President Chávez in the Great Hall of the People in the afternoon of 24 August. Both sides unanimously agreed to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in various fields and to upgrade the strategic partnership relationship for common development between China and Venezuela to a new level.

Hu Jintao said: 'In recent years, the relations between China and Venezuela have further developed in an all-round way. There have been frequent high-ranking mutual visits between the two sides; political mutual trust has been further enhanced; substantive progress has been made in cooperation of mutual benefits in various fields; China and Venezuela have also cooperated well in international and regional affairs. The Venezuelan government has adhered to the one-China policy for a long time and has given China firm support on the Taiwan and other major issues of concern to the Chinese side. We want to express our appreciation and gratitude for this'.

Chávez said: 'In recent years, political mutual trust between Venezuela and China has been strengthened; economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges, and exchanges in other fields have continued to deepen; friendly sentiments between the people of the two countries have increased with each passing day; and bilateral relations have entered a new development stage. The Venezuelan government will continue to firmly adhere to the one-China policy and is convinced that there are bright prospects for friendly cooperative relations between Venezuela and China '.

Hu Jintao said: 'This year is the fifth anniversary of the establishment of strategic partnership relations for common development between China and Venezuela. I hope both sides will take this as a turning point and make common efforts in the following four aspects: (1) Strengthening high-level exchanges and expanding strategic consensus. The Chinese side is willing to work with the Venezuelan side to expand exchanges and cooperation between the governments, legislatures, and political parties of the two countries and strengthen dialogue, consultation, and coordination on major issues of concern to both sides. (2) Deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and accelerating common development. The Chinese side is willing to work with the Venezuelan side to continue to strengthen the coordination function of the High-Level Sino-Venezuelan Mixed Committee and the building of its mechanisms, to actively carry out the cooperative projects that have been decided by both sides, and to actively explore bilateral cooperation in railway construction, shipbuilding, the production of petroleum machinery, and high science and technology. The Chinese side encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Venezuela and also welcomes Venezuelan enterprises to open up the market in China . The Chinese side is willing to work with the Venezuelan side to jointly tap potentials, expand the fields of cooperation, upgrade the level of cooperation, and enable the cooperation of the two sides to yield excellent economic and social benefits. (3) Expanding exchanges in the humanities and deepening mutual understanding. Expanding exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, science, technology, the press, tourism, and other fields between the two sides and encouraging the cultural institutions, schools of higher learning, scientific research institutes, press units, non-governmental organizations, and localities of the two countries to strengthen personnel and information exchanges and to mutually learn from each other. (4) Strengthening international cooperation, especially coordination and cooperation in international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, the WTO, and the Organization of American Countries so as to jointly promote world peace and development'.

Chávez completely agreed with the suggestions put forward by Hu Jintao. He said: 'These suggestions have determined the direction for Venezuelan-Chinese relations and cooperation in various fields for a period of time in the days to come. The Venezuelan side is willing to work with the Chinese side to actively carry out these suggestions, to strengthen cooperation in the bilateral and multilateral fields, and to push forward the development of the Venezuelan-Chinese strategic partnership relations for common development. The Venezuelan side hopes to further develop cooperation with the Chinese side in energy, railway construction, telecommunications, agriculture, tourism, culture, education, and other fields and build the High-Level Venezuelan-Chinese Mixed Committee into an important platform for constantly promoting bilateral cooperation'.

After the talks, the heads of state of the two countries attended the ceremony for signing the summary of the fifth meeting of the High-Level Sino-Venezuelan Mixed Committee and other documents on cooperation.

Before the talks began, President Hu Jintao held a ceremony to welcome President Chávez's visit to China in the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People. He Luli, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee; State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan; Zhang Siqing, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Wang Liping, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy; Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing; Ma Kai, minister of the State Development and Reform Commission; and Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Ju Yijie, attended the ceremony".