Visiting senior Chinese party official Li Changchun on Monday
held talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on mutually
beneficial cooperation and common development.
Li said bilateral ties have risen to a new level since the two
countries established a strategic partnership, marked by frequent
exchanges of high-level visits, enhanced political trust and the
strengthening of consultation and cooperation in international
affairs.
During his visit to China last year, Chavez met with President
Hu Jintao and they reached a broad consensus on developing
bilateral relations, Li said.
China believes that mutually beneficial cooperation conforms
with the fundamental interests of both countries, Li said, noting
that Beijing is willing to work with Caracas to intensify
high-level visits, expand people-to-people exchanges, deepen mutual
beneficial cooperation and speed up common development.
Concerning party exchanges between the two countries, Li said
the Communist Party of China (CPC) values friendly exchanges with
Movimiento V Republica, and hopes to further frequent exchanges of
senior party officials and young politicians.
For his part, Chavez said his government is willing to deepen
mutually beneficial cooperation with China in all fields in efforts
to benefit the two peoples.
Movimiento V Republica will further exchange experiences of
managing state affairs with the CPC, he said.
Earlier on Monday, Li Changchun, who flew in Caracas for a
goodwill visit on Sunday, visited the Venezuela National Petroleum
Corporation and talked with other senior Venezuelan officials.
This is Li's second stop on his five-nation tour that will take
the senior official to Suriname, Peru and Samoa, an island nation
in the Pacific. The tour began in Mexico last week.
Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau
of the CPC Central Committee, is the highest-ranking Chinese
official to visit Venezuela since the visit by Vice President Zeng
Qinghong in 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2007)
