Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives in China. He's on a state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Earlier on Friday, the Venezuelan leader sat down with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. This comes following the 16th meeting of the China-Venezuela High-Level Mixed Committee. In his address during the closing ceremony, Maduro urged the two sides to enhance their multi-faceted cooperation via different channels. Meantime Wang Yi called for the two countries to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership. That was forged during President Xi's visit to the Latin American nation in 2014. Maduro and Wang Yi also witnessed the signing of 28 bilateral deals reached in industries from natural gas to oil field development, as well as medicines.

WANG YI CHINESE STATE COUNCILOR, FOREIGN MINISTER "The two countries should seize the opportunity of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Doing so will increase high-level exchanges and synergize the two countries' development strategies. We hope the high-level mixed committee can carry out the agreements reached during President Maduro's state visit."

NICOLAS MADURO VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT "Recently, the Venezuelan government launched plans and we are confident those plans will lead to a steady recovery and growth of our economy. I am very pleased to hold talks with Chinese leaders. We hope our deepening cooperation will benefit both parties and promote the development of all of Latin America."