World / Americas Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro heads to China with ‘great expectations’ BL PREMIUM

Caracas/Beijing — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is travelling to China to discuss economic agreements, as the crisis-struck Opec nation seeks to convince its key Asian financier to disburse fresh loans. "I am going with great expectations and we will see each other again in a few days with big achievements," the leftist leader said on Wednesday in a state broadcast from the airport, without providing details. Venezuela’s information ministry did not respond to a request for comment. China’s foreign ministry said Maduro would visit from Thursday until Saturday, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. "Recently, the Venezuelan president has actively pushed forward economic reforms, and there has been a positive reaction to these from society," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing. "I think that a Venezuela that is steadily developing is in everyone’s interests. China has faith that the Venezuelan people and government will be able to handle its domestic a...