China-Venezuela ties laudable: economist

China and Venezuela have been engaged in integral cooperation to promote the establishment of a multilateral world, Venezeula's renowed economist Judith Lopez Guevara told Xinhua on Wednesday ahead of the 40th anniversary of bilateral ties.

The two countries developed a strategic outlook on advancing toward a multilateral world during the reign of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said Lopez, who is also president of Venezuela's National Institute for Women.

China has become one of Venezuela's main trading partners based on a relationship of mutual respect and mutual benefit, marked by the creation of mechanisms to promote joint development, she said.

The China-Venezuela ties promote equality, respect and exchanges, instead of competition, and have a large social component, Lopez added.

In 2013, China and Venezuela signed 12 accords, including one to establish a new and alternative means of financing the China-Venezuela Fund, and one to create a joint venture for the development of the Junin 1 Field in Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco Belt.

The two nations also signed an accord to undertake a mining survey of the South American country, including a feasibility study for the development of the Las Cristinas gold mine in southern Bolivar state.

"Thanks to these ties with China, we can say that Venezuela is on the path to a strategic alliance that breaks with the schemes of the hegemonic powers that subject countries with their military and economic might," said Lopez.

The ties between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) can also play a fundamental role in the development of global cooperation, in leaving behind a unilateral world order controlled by monopolistic powers, added the economist.