Chavez is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao for talks on their growing energy ties. However, Venezuelan and Chinese officials have not elaborated on the agenda for their meeting.

"We know that Venezuela is an important oil exporter in the world. �� The two countries are keeping consultation in this regard," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu without divulging the subject of their planned talks.

Chavez and Venezuelan energy officials have expressed interest in expanding their existing petroleum partnership, a move that concerns some in Washington, as Venezuelan exports to the United States have decreased in the last 12 months, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The leftist Chavez, an ardent critic of the Bush administration, has made efforts to diversify his county's oil customer portfolio so as to become less reliant on the United States, Venezuela's largest customer, which consumes well over 1 million barrels per day.

The Venezuelan leader appears to have designated China as the No. 1 alternative to the United States, though per day import of Venezuelan oil still pales in comparison to U.S. consumption.

Erik Kreil, an international oil market analyst at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, noted that while Venezuela appears eager to lessen its reliance on the United States, China's energy demands, albeit growing rapidly, are still not as great.

"China can only take so much," Kreil told United Press International. "The bottom line is there is only so much they (Venezuela) can diversify away" from the United States.

Despite current limitations, Venezuela and China have been laying the groundwork for an expanded energy relationship in years to come.

In 2006 Chavez traveled to China to sign an $11 billion deal on mutual energy and transportation development, which laid the foundation for close ties.

A year later Venezuelan and Chinese state petroleum companies said they would spend more than $10 billion to develop the Orinoco basin, which contains Venezuela's largest deposits.

Since being elected to the presidency in 1998, Chavez has courted China and even expressed willingness to sell fuel to North Korea. He also has cultivated closer ties with Iran, drawing sharp criticism from Washington and increased concerns about the foreign-policy leanings of the Venezuelan president.

Closer energy relations have resulted in a significant increase in fuel exports to China and a reduction of oil exports to the United States, which still remains Venezuela's largest customer.

Venezuela's state-owned petroleum company, PDVSA, announced in October 2007 that South America's largest oil exporter shipped an average of 197,000 barrels per day of crude oil and byproducts to China. While that amount pales in comparison to the nearly 1.4 million bpd of Venezuelan oil that was exported to the United States in July, China's exports have risen more than three-fold since 2006.

Venezuela supplies about 12 percent of the oil imported by the United States, which is Venezuela's largest customer. Venezuela is the No. 4 supplier to the United States.

Kreil noted that Venezuela's exports to China were 27,500 bpd in the first half of 2005, the first full year Beijing began pursuing Venezuelan petroleum.

By the first half of 2006 Venezuelan oil exports reached 70,000 bpd. Since then Venezuelan oil exports have increased dramatically and are forecast to exceed 180,000 bpd for 2008.

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