Venezuela Claims $20bn China Loan

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said Saturday that China has offered $20bn in long-term financing for strategic projects in the country, according to the state-owned news agency, Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN). Chavez said the facility via CDB and the central bank should serve as an example for other LatAm nations reliant on less favorable financing from international lenders, ABN reports. Proceeds are for infrastructure, agribusiness, electricity, oil, steel and gas projects, Chavez states. He adds that Venezuela will continue to supply China with oil and is studying the possibility of also shipping gas and iron to the fast growing Asian nation. Venezuela also agreed to form a joint venture to pump crude oil from a block in the Orinoco Belt.