Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro will visit China from Friday, China’s foreign ministry said, marking renewed engagement between the two countries as Beijing’s ties sour with Western capitals.

Energy investment and debt repayment issues are likely to be a focus of the September 8-14 visit. China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, is Venezuela’s largest creditor and a major player in the country’s oil industry, which has the world’s largest proven reserves.

Maduro’s arrival will follow meetings between a Venezuelan delegation, including the country’s vice president and oil minister, and Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Shanghai and Beijing earlier this week，according to China’s foreign ministry.

“China-Venezuela relations have withstood the test of changes in the international situation and have remained rock-solid. Political mutual trust between the two countries has become increasingly strong,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press conference on Friday.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in a post on X on Friday that the two governments were strengthening bilateral relations, and expanding “strategic cooperation and international joint work, in favour of peace and respect for the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.”

Washington and Caracas have long been at odds and while the Biden administration has made overtures toward easing sanctions against Venezuela, Beijing’s decision to host Maduro coincides with a G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, which Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend.

Maduro last visited China in 2018, when he met with Xi in Beijing.

Oil and debt

Despite US sanctions on Venezuelan oil, between January and August this year, China imported around 390,000 barrels per day of crude from the country, totalling roughly 12.9 million metric tons, according to data from commodities consultancy Vortexa. Most Venezuelan shipments are transferred via third countries such as Malaysia.

China reported no crude imports from Venezuela in official customs data last year or thus far this year.

Chinese state-owned PetroChina (601857.SS) holds a 40% stake in the Sinovensa project in the vast Orinoco belt alongside Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The company stopped carrying Venezuelan oil in August 2019 after the Trump administration tightened sanctions against the South American exporter, though other Chinese entities have continued to make shipments.

Venezuela is also heavily indebted to China following a $50 billion oil-for-loan deal agreed in 2007 by then-President Hugo Chavez. In 2020, the Maduro administration and Chinese banks agreed a grace period for some $19 billion of this debt, according to Reuters reporting.