China and Venezuela agreed?in Beijing on?Wednesday to step up cooperation in fields such as energy, agriculture, and high technology and take joint actions in the face of the global financial crisis.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on April 8, 2009. [Rao Aimin/Xinhua]??

The agreement was reached in a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the two exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern and reached an important consensus.

Hu highlighted the robust growth of bilateral relations during the meeting, saying that China was satisfied with the positive outcomes from bilateral economic and technological cooperation, progress made on some key projects and close coordination on international and regional issues.

Hu also suggested the two nations should work closer and boost the various pragmatic cooperation, which would not only help resolve the impact from the international financial crisis, but also be conducive to laying a solid foundation for the long-term development of Sino-Venezuelan relations.

China highly values its ties with Venezuela and will join hands with the Venezuelan side to make efforts to push forward the bilateral strategic partnership to a higher level, Hu said.

Echoing Hu's views on bilateral relations, Chavez also applauded the progress made on bilateral cooperation in energy, agriculture, industry and technology.

He especially mentioned the successful launch and delivery of Venezuela's first telecommunication satellite thanks to cooperation with China.

Chavez noted that the world order is undergoing a profound change and China already played a significant and positive role in an effort to address the challenges posed by the international economic turmoil.

Venezuela is willing to cement its cooperation with China in such a new international context, the Venezuelan president added.

As Hu's guest, Chavez arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night for a three-day working visit.

He will also meet Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during the visit, which is his sixth to China.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2009)