Impact of cooperation felt in 'the daily lives' of people

China and Venezuela are celebrating 40 years of diplomatic ties and have signed more than 500 cooperation agreements over the past few years.

The financing mechanisms between the two countries amount to more than $50 billion.

The mechanisms, which include the China-Venezuela Fund, have provided financial support for some 256 projects, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"These projects cover a wide range of fields that impact the daily lives of Venezuelans," Simon Zerpa, president of the Venezuelan Bank of Social and Economic Development, told Xinhua.

Relations between the countries have grown more rapidly since the establishment of a strategic partnership for common development in 2001.

Currently Venezuela is China's fourth-largest trade partner in Latin America and China is Venezuela's second-largest trade partner worldwide.

Bilateral trade reached $19.24 billion last year. From 2008 to 2012, the average annual trade growth was 24.5 percent, outperforming the average China-Latin America annual trade growth rate of 10.8 percent.

Xu Shicheng, a researcher on Latin America at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the two nations have witnessed a high frequency of top-level contacts, and financial cooperation in funding investment is making remarkable progress.

"The bilateral funding programs have become inspirations to more cooperation between China and other developing nations," said Xu. "They offer much-needed funds to Venezuela and provide market access to a range of Chinese enterprises."

(China Daily 07/22/2014 page3)