China Inks $20B Venezuela Oil-for-Loan Deal

摘要

China has strengthened its ties with Venezuela, offering a $20 billion loan in exchange for more crude oil. The pact was announced during Chi- nese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Caracas Saturday, when half a dozen energy deals were also inked. It is the second-biggest oil-for-loans agreement signed by China in the past two years — Beijing extended a $25 billion loan to Russian state giants Rosneft and Transneft in early 2009 in ex- change for guaranteed oil supplies start- ing next year.