Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Thursday that his country is "building a new type of relationship" with China, after meeting with new Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Li Baorong.
Arreaza's remarks were posted at the ministry's Twitter account, which quoted him as calling China "a brother country."
Li presented his credentials to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace here on Tuesday.
During their meeting, Maduro and Li "agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and close links that exist between both nations," said a government statement.
Venezuela and China established diplomatic relations in 1974 and the bilateral relationship has witnessed faster development since the establishment of their strategic partnership for common development in 2001.
