Ambassador of the Embassy of the republic of Venezuela in China
Former Minister of Production and Commerce
Former Minister of agricultrue Doctor in Sccience

¡¡¡¡Journalist: Dear Ambassador, as we all know,President Hugo Rafael Ch¨¢vez Fr¨ªas returned to the presidential palace by helicopter on April 14. It demonstrates that President Hugo Rafael Ch¨¢vez Fr¨ªas is popular among the Venezuela people. Would you kindly talk some about President Hugo Rafael Ch¨¢vez Fr¨ªas?

¡¡¡¡Ambassador: Well, President Hugo Rafael Ch¨¢vez Fr¨ªas was born in the town of Sabaneta, State of Barinas, Venezuela, on July 28, 1954. At Venezuela's Military Academy he obtained a College-level degree in Military Sciences and Arts, Engineerign Branch, Ground Specialty, graduating as a Second Lieutenant on July 5, 1975.

¡¡¡¡Risking everything at the head of a movement of young officers of the Armed Forces, Hugo Ch¨¢vez rebelled on February 4, 1992 against a social and politicalsgroupsmainly characterized by corruption and injustice. On February 2, 1999 Hugo Rafael Ch¨¢vez Fr¨ªas took over the reins of the State to lead the nation's destiny until the year 2004.With a new Venezuelan constitution adopted in 1999, there was a new presidential election that he won, and allows him to stay in power for six more years.

¡¡¡¡The economy of Venezuela is built upon the nation's rich petroleum and mineral resources. While resource extraction has assisted in developing an industrial economy, the nation is vulnerable to fluctuations in world markets.

¡¡¡¡High petroleum prices in the early 1980s gave the country the highest annual per capita income in South America, but in the early 1990s a weak global oil market, coupled with political instability and a crisis in the banking system, produced a series of economic shocks for the country. The gross domestic product (GDP), after rising throughout the 1980s, began to fall in the 1990s as the inflation rate rose.

¡¡¡¡The government led by President of Hugo Rafael Ch¨¢vez Fr¨ªas responded by reducing spending, improving tax collections and accelerating privatization of state-owned firms, all intended to reduce inflation and the national deficit. The national budget in 1997 included revenues of billion and expenditures of .2 billion. The GDP in 1998 was billion.

¡¡¡¡Journalist: Would you kindly say something about Venezuela?Like a smile from the continent to the Caribbean Sea; Like a hug between the great river and the Atlantic Ocean; like the ardent desire of the Andean mountains to touch the sea. This is Venezulea.

¡¡¡¡Venezuela is a country of striking natural beauty and dramatic contrasts: the snowcapped peaks of the Andes in the west; steamy Amazonian jungles in the south; the hauntingly beautiful Gran Sabana plateau, with its strange flat-topped mountains, in the east; and 3000km (1860mi) of white-sand beaches fringed with coconut palms lining the Caribbean coast. South America's largest lake, Lake Maracaibo, and third-longest river, the Orinoco, are also here, and the country boasts the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls. The Angel Falls is the highest uninterrupted cataract in the world, dropping 979 m (3,212 ft) from the mesa of Auy¨¢n Tepuy in the rain-forest-covered Guiana Highlands. It was discovered in 1935 by the American aviator and adventurer James C. Angel, after whom it is named.

¡¡¡¡It is also home to a wide variety of exotic plants and animals, including the jaguar, ocelot, tapir, armadillo, anteater, and the longest snake in the world, the anaconda.

£ £ Journalist: What's the meaning of Venezuela in Spanish?It means small Venice. The name Venezuela (small Venice) was given by the Spaniard navigator Alonso de Ojeda in the 15th century, because the palafittes (natives houses over the Maracaibo Lake) reminded him of the Italian city of Venice.

¡¡¡¡Background: .The Country

¡¡¡¡Official Name: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

¡¡¡¡Capital: Caracas

¡¡¡¡Nationality: Venezuelan

¡¡¡¡Language: Spanish (official) and numerous native dialects

¡¡¡¡Religion: 96% Roman Catholic; 2% Protestant

¡¡¡¡Currency: Bolivar (Bs.)

¡¡¡¡.Geography

¡¡¡¡Localization: Northen coast of South America

¡¡¡¡Border countries: Brazil, Colombia and Guyana

¡¡¡¡Characteristics: Coast with several peninsulas and islands, 2 chains of the Andes Mountain (North and Northwest),

¡¡¡¡¡¡Maracaibo Lake, R¨ªo Orinoco's delta (Southeast coast), plains (East of the Orinoco), Guyana's plateau (West of the Orinoco) and mountains (Southeast)

¡¡¡¡Climate: Tropical

¡¡¡¡Area: 916,445 sq km

¡¡¡¡Population (*): 24.2 millions (67% Mestizo, 21% European, 10% African, 2% Natives)

¡¡¡¡Major cities: Caracas, Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo, Maracay, Puerto La Cruz

¡¡¡¡.Government

¡¡¡¡Type: Federal Republic

¡¡¡¡Administrative division: 23 states, 1 federal district and 72 federal dependences

¡¡¡¡Chief of State: President Hugo Chavez Frias (Curriculum )

¡¡¡¡.Economy

¡¡¡¡Agriculture: sugar cane, banana, plantain, corn, rice, orange

¡¡¡¡Breeding: bovine, swine, goat like, poultry, fish

¡¡¡¡Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, bauxite, gold, iron, diamonds, copper, lead

¡¡¡¡Industry: petrochemical, oil refining, metallurgy, steel, food, chemical (textile and paper), comunicationsMajor commercial partners: USA, Colombia, Germany, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and United Kingdom

¡¡¡¡Journalist: Would you talk something about the culture of Venezuela?

¡¡¡¡Ambassador: Visual arts and handicrafts are popular in Venezuela, but the most distinctive cultural outlet of our country is probably its music, which is an eclectic blend of European, African and indigenous rhythms. Theater is growing in popularity, and there is an active literary scene, especially among the younger generation.

¡¡¡¡Journalist: How about the foreign trade of Venezuela?

¡¡¡¡Ambassador: The main exports of Venezuela are petroleum and petroleum products, which together account for 79 percent of foreign sales. Other exports include bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products and basic manufactures. Total exports were estimated at .5 billion in 1998. Main imports include raw materials, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs and basic manufactures. Imports were estimated at .8 billion in 1998. Major trading partners for exports are the United States, Japan, The Netherlands (primarily petroleum to the Netherlands Antilles for refining) and Italy. Chief sources of imports are the United States (which represents 50 percent of the total sales), Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and Canada. Venezuela is a member of four international trade organizations, the Andean Group, Latin American Integration Association (LAIA),sgroupsof Three and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). These organizations work toward improving conditions within member countries by increasing economic integration and international trade.

Journalist: How about the economic and trade relationship of China and Venezuela?

¡¡¡¡Ambassador: From October 10-13, 1999, at the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Venezuelan President Chaves paid a state visit to China. President Jiang, Premier Zhu Rongji and Chairman of the CPPCC Li Ruihuang held talks with President Chaves respectively. Chief officials from the State Planning Commission, Ministry of Land Resources, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, National Tourism Administration of the P.R.C., and China Petroleum and Natural Gas Corporation held respectively talks with relevant Venezuelan officials. A number of agreements were reached during the visit, which are as follows: Memorandum of understanding on the establishment of mixed energy committee; Memorandum of understanding on mutual investment protection; Memorandum of understanding on provision of 30 million US credit loans to Venezuela by Chinese banks; Exchange of notes on the expansion of Venezuelan Consular division of Consulate General in Hong Kong to Macao. Agreement on cooperation between Foreign Affairs College of China and Venezuelan Academy of Higher Research, Agreement on cooperative frame between Nan jing University of China and Andes University, and A letter of intent on long-term goods credit of emulsified oil between China Petroleum and Gas Corporation and Venezuelan Petroleum Company. China and Venezuela signed the Inter-governmental Trade Agreement in November 1985, and Mixed economic and trade Committee have been held for three times. The trade volume between China and Venezuela in 1974 only accounted for 1,400,000 US dollars. The 1980s saw a big growth in the bilateral trade relations. China imported emulsified oil from Venezuela in 1996 for the first time, in the meantime, and expanded its export. China-Venezuelan trade volume has steadily increased, amounting to US million in 2000 with US million of Chinese export and US.479 million of Chines import. China mainly imports from Venezuela iron ore, finished oil and soon, while exporting household electrical appliances, shoes, textiles and garments.

¡¡¡¡China and Venezuela have made a lot of progress in the field of economic and technical cooperation since the 1990s. Agreement on joint oil exploitation was signed in November 1996 during Chinese Premier Li Peng's visit to Venezuela. In June 1997, China Petroleum & Natural Gas Corporation won the bid at the investment of US million for the right to drill oil fields of Caracoles and the North Intercampo, took over the management of the two oil-fields and put themsintosoperation in February and May 1998 respectively. It is the largest investment project ever made by China in Latin America. In April 2000, Memorandum of understanding was signed on the joint production of emulsified oil between China Petroleum & Natural Gas Corporation and Venezuela Petroleum Corporation. By the end of 1999, Chinese accumulated investment in Venezuela has totaled around US million with 11 Chinese funded ventures.