Loans by China's state-owned banks to Latin American countries rose by 71% to 22bn dollars in 2014, according to estimates published by the China-Latin America Finance Database. The figure is the second largest on record for Chinese lending in Latin America, according to the report.
After the BRICS summit and a visit to Brazil, China's President Xi Jinping is embarking on a tour of Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba in a bid to boost ties and gain clout in the region, as analyst Victor Mijares tells Deutch Welle.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday he had scrapped his plan to take part in the UN General Assembly in New York to protect my life after purported threats on it. Just back from a visit to China Maduro said that on a layover in Vancouver he received intelligence on what he said were two highly serious provocations, which prompted him to scrap his UN trip.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, said they were committed to consolidating the strategic alliance between their two countries during a meeting in Beijing at which they signed a dozen cooperation and investment agreements worth 20 billion dollars.
Venezuelan Vice-president Jorge Arreaza said that cooperation between China and Venezuela, which has been especially strong and beneficial in energy and technology, could be extended to include agriculture and land exploitation, an area of special interest for Beijing.