Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro arriving on a bullet train to Beijing's South Station and received with military honors on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Photo: X/@NicolasMaduro.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Aboard a high-speed train, the president of of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, arrived in Beijing, the Chinese capital, as part of his historic visit to China. The train departed from Jinan, Province of Shandong, on the Jinan–Beijing route which connects 430 kilometers between the two cities in just one hour and 35 minutes.
President Maduro traveled this Tuesday, September 12, with a delegation consisting of first lady and National Assembly member Cilia Flores and the Venezuelan ambassador to China, Giuseppe Yoffreda. He was received at Beijing’s South Station by the special representative of the government of the People’s Republic of China for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, Qiu Xiaoqi; the director general of the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Cai Wei; and the Chinese ambassador to Venezuela, Lan Hu.
This is the fourth stop of Maduro’s seven-day state visit to China, which has already seen him visit Shenzhen, Shangai, and Jinan. In Beijing, President Maduro is scheduled to meet with Chinese president and Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Secretary General Xi Jinping.
Con honores y un cálido recibimiento, llegamos a Beijing para continuar esta intensa y auspiciosa jornada de trabajo en nuestra hermana, China. Estoy seguro de que seguiremos logrando grandes resultados por el desarrollo de ambos pueblos. ¡Pendientes de la agenda! pic.twitter.com/MJDA2W6yKD
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) September 12, 2023
“What an honor,” wrote President Mauro on social media upon his arrival in Beijing. “With the high-speed train, we lived the experience of arriving in Beijing, capital of the People’s Republic of China, where we were received with honors, affection, and warmth. The people of Venezuela are recognized and admired in the world. Thank you brothers and sisters!”
BRICS Bank
“I have given the request to the Minister of Finance, Delcy Rodríguez, to advance all the necessary steps and requirements, in a modest but significant way, to request our incorporation into the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS, because Venezuela is building the new world geopolitics,” said President Maduro during the 16th edition of his television show Con Maduro Más+, broadcasted from Jinan, Shandong province.
President Maduro said that during the meeting he held with the president of the BRICS Bank, Dilma Rousseff, in Shanghai, he confirmed his intention for Venezuela to become a full member of the economic organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. “I have the certain hope that very soon, Venezuela will join the BRICS as a full member,” said the Venezuelan head of state.
#EnVivo 📹 | Transmisión de la Edición Nº 16 del programa "Con Maduro +". https://t.co/LoKAvcGsdv
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) September 11, 2023
The NDB aims to promote emerging economic markets, with the purpose of receiving resources in different local currencies from the member countries. Likewise, the financial entity, founded in 2014, finances infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the member countries and emerging economies.
Special Economic Zones Projects
President Maduro also announced that the Minister for Science and Technology Gabriela Jiménez, Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea, and Minister for Agriculture Wilmar Castro Soteldo were appointed as governmental and political heads to execute twinning and shared development projects between the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) of Venezuela and the Chinese provinces of Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Shandong, respectively.
“We decided to twin the regions, to make a twinning agreement and a joint development plan… and we signed investment and technology agreements, including with the most advanced Chinese companies in the world,” said the Venezuelan president.
President Maduro Begins Official Visit to China With Full Tech and Friendship Display in Shenzhen
In Shenzhen, President Maduro announced that the Venezuelan delegation would be headed by the Governor of the State of La Guaira, José Alejandro Terán, as well as by businesspersons, with the purpose of “holding a business conference and obtaining investment for Venezuela and technology transfer in addition to learning from the wonderful development experience of Shenzhen as an economic zone.”
In Shanghai, the delegation representing Venezuela in the Shanghai Special Economic Zone was headed by Minister Tellechea and the governor of Carabobo state Rafael Lacava. “We decided to create a shared integral development agreement between Shanghai and the state of Carabobo, due to the industrial and productive strengths that the state has, to carry out the work and see results with Shanghai,” Maduro said.
In Shandong, Minister Castro Soteldo headed the Venezuelan team to develop agricultural SEZ projects with the province of Shandong. Governor Luis José Marcano and Governor of Monagas Ernesto Luna, head the projects and plans to be executed in the Venezuelan regions. “We came to open doors for Venezuela in China, to consolidate a new superior stage to test everything in order to grow and expand, following the example of China, the super power of the 21st century,” said President Maduro.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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