Chavez looks to deepen China ties

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez is due in China Tuesday for a six-day trip that is likely to see him call for support for his bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council and participate in oil export talks. Chinese oil imports from Venezuela were up 40% in June from a year earlier and Chavez is believed to want to increase supply from 150,000 barrels a day to 200,000, the Wall Street Journal reported. He is also keen to see Chinese companies get involved in oil exploration in Venezuela and wants to buy drilling equipment and supertankers from Beijing. Chavez is trying to shift his country away from dependency on the US, which he claims tried to overthrow him during a nationwide strike in 2002 and 2003, in favor of countries like China, Russia and Iran.