BEIJING, CHINA - China and Venezuela have agreed on energy deals and loans worth a hefty 36 billion US dollars (S$50 billion), as the Asian giant cements ties with a Latin American state that is a major irritant to Washington.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced a 16-billion-US-dollar investment package during a ceremony in Caracas Saturday, at which the two governments signed several energy-related deals, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.

Venezuela will also receive soft loans worth 20 billion US dollars from the China Development Bank, Xinhua reported.

"Thank you, Hu Jintao, and thank you, China," Chavez, a firebrand leader who is pursuing an anti-US socialist agenda, was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.

China's President Hu Jintao was due to attend the signing ceremony but was forced to return home early from Latin America after an earthquake in a remote Tibetan region that has killed more than 1,700 people.

Xinhua reported the investment package will help Venezuela develop its oil and electricity industries, including a venture in its eastern Orinoco region.

The investment package will also include Chinese technology to help Venezuela build a thermoelectric power plant, to ease its energy crisis, according to Xinhua.

Chavez said the loans would be used to build new power plants, highways and other projects and would be repaid with Venezuelan crude oil, according to Dow Jones.

The transaction underscored China's push to deepen links to oil-rich nations in the developing world, after a slew of major investments in Africa.

According to Caracas, China imports 460,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela, and aims to raise this to one million in the medium term.

Venezuela has become China's fifth-biggest trading partner in Latin America, with bilateral trade worth 7.15 billion US dollars last year, Xinhua said. --AFP