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Wed 09 Sep 2008Chávez to bolster oil links with China
VENEZUELA / CHINA:PRESIDENT HUGO Chávez arrived in Beijing yesterday on a visit to cement ties between Venezuela and China, saying he hoped to build three joint-venture refineries in the country to process Venezuelan crude oil, and construct a joint tanker fleet.
China needs oil to fuel its booming economy, while the famously outspoken Mr Chávez, who reserves his strongest broadsides for Washington, wants to reduce his country's need to sell oil to the US, which buys 60 per cent of Venezuela's oil despite tense relations between the two countries.
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