Colombia welcomes China to invest in its vast but largely unexplored oil resources, Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe Velez said Thursday in Beijing.

At a press conference Thursday evening, Uribe said China's explosive economic growth will be beneficial to Colombia if it decides to explore the countries rich oil resources, 87 percent of which remains unexplored.

"As long as China invests, there would be great potential," he said.

Uribe arrived here Wednesday morning to start his state visit to China as guest of Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two countries signed five documents in the areas of plant and animal quarantine, information and telecommunication, film exhibition, economy and technology.

Representatives from Colombia's state oil company and ChinaPetrochem met and reached an intent to cooperate Thursday afternoon. Other cooperation agreements in car-manufacturing and telecommunications also have been reached.

Uribe said Colombia has signed with Spain agreements on investment protection and avoiding double taxes. The country will apply these agreements to China.

"The economic prospect of the two countries will be vast if there is an effective partnership," said Uribe.

Source: Xinhua