According to the latest market news on November 27, Venezuela has resumed direct crude oil shipments to China after the United States suspended its export ban on Venezuela. It is reported that on January 28, 2019, the United States officially announced that it would impose economic sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA.
You know, Venezuela is one of the world’s largest crude oil reserves, and 95% of the country’s exports rely on crude oil. A report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2013 stated that Venezuela’s oil reserves ranked first in the world. Therefore, it is conceivable that the United States has initiated oil export restrictions to Venezuela, which has undoubtedly cut off its important source of economic income.
Fortunately, China can provide timely help to Venezuela. It is reported that when the US ban took effect in 2016, China reached a cooperation agreement with Venezuela on “oil in exchange for food and other materials”, which enabled Venezuela to overcome economic difficulties when it was isolated and helpless.
The United States has also been dissatisfied with the economic cooperation between China and Venezuela. According to The Paper, in mid-February this year, relevant U.S. representatives issued a “suggestion” that China should stop importing crude oil from Venezuela. Soon, relevant Chinese representatives responded on February 19 that cooperation with Venezuela has always been carried out in accordance with the principles of equality, mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and commercialization. No matter what the domestic situation in Venezuela is, China will continue to maintain cooperation.
According to incomplete statistics, in the 10 years as of the beginning of 2019, including economic loans, China’s economic investment in Venezuela exceeded 600 million billion US dollars (equivalent to approximately 394.5 billion yuan). Seeing that the U.S. restrictions were about to reach their final deadline, Venezuela quickly extended an “olive branch” to China in early November.
According to Xinhuanet, Venezuelan representatives shouted to China on November 7 that Venezuela is rich in mineral and tourism resources and hopes that Strengthen cooperation with Chinese companies in the fields of energy, petrochemicals, mining, industry, tourism and other fields. In addition, Venezuela is also very optimistic about Chinese vaccines. The country’s President Maduro pointed out in mid-October that after receiving the new crown vaccine from China, the country is expected to launch a large-scale free vaccination program in April 2021. </p
