Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President, wants to build 150,000 houses by year-end. - File
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP):
Venezuela and China have signed a euro945 million (US$1.2 billion) deal to build 20,000 homes in the South American country over the next two years, the state news agency said.
Venezuelan housing minister Ramon Carrizales and Liang Chuanxin, vice president of the state-owned China CITIC Group, agreed Chinese capital will finance 75 per cent of the deal, which was denominated in euros, the Bolivarian News Agency said in a statement late Monday.
President Hugo Chavez, who is visiting Beijing this week on a three-nation tour, has said solving the country's acute housing crisis is a key pillar of his socialist revolution.
Chavez says China will expand cooperation in oil exploration and help his country build a fibre-optic communications network under agreements due to be signed on his Beijing visit.
The visit by the left-leaning Chavez comes amid growing oil sales to China, which wants access to Latin American energy sources for its booming economy.
Chavez arrived in Beijing early Wednesday on a trip that will also take him to Angola and Malaysia.
Official welcome
The government has released no details on whom Chavez will meet, but says he is to receive an official welcome Thursday at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's Parliament.
Chavez has forged strong ties with Beijing since taking office in 1998. He said last week that he will buy Chinese-made tankers and seal an oil exploration deal. Up for re-election in December, Chavez has promised to build 150,000 homes by the year's end. But the housing ministry said in a statement Monday that it only expects to have 60,000 finished by the end of September.
Venezuela is also working with Iran to jointly build 10,000 homes in the country. Last month, Chavez also proposed supplying Belarus with crude in exchange for houses and technology.
About 1.6 million of Venezuela's 26 million inhabitants need a home, according to the government.
