Visiting senior Chinese party official Li Changchun on Monday held talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on mutually beneficial cooperation and common development.

Li said bilateral ties have risen to a new level since the two countries established a strategic partnership, marked by frequent exchanges of high-level visits, enhanced political trust and the strengthening of consultation and cooperation in international affairs.

During his visit to China last year, Chavez met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and they reached a broad consensus on developing bilateral relations, Li said.

China believes that mutually beneficial cooperation conforms with the fundamental interests of both countries, Li said, noting that Beijing is willing to work with Caracas to intensify high-level visits, expand people-to-people exchanges, deepen mutual beneficial cooperation and speed up common development.

Concerning party exchanges between the two countries, Li said the Communist Party of China (CPC) values friendly exchanges with Movimiento V Republica, and hopes to further frequent exchanges of senior party officials and young politicians.

For his part, Chavez said his government is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China in all fields in efforts to benefit the two peoples.

Movimiento V Republica will further exchange experiences of managing state affairs with the CPC, he said.

Earlier on Monday, Li Changchun, who flew here for a goodwill visit on Sunday, visited the Venezuela National Petroleum Corporation and talked with other senior Venezuelan officials.

This is Li's second stop on his five-nation tour that will take the senior official to Suriname, Peru and Samoa, an island nation in the Pacific. The tour began in Mexico last week.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Venezuela since the visit by Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong in 2005.

Source: Xinhua