Bolivian leader asks China to help develop gas reserves

BEIJING – Bolivia’s president elect invited energy-hungry China on Sunday to help develop his country’s vast gas reserves after his government carries out plans to nationalize them.

Evo Morales’ visit to China comes amid a campaign by Beijing to develop ties with nations throughout Latin America as new sources of fuel, raw materials and new markets for its export dynamo.

Carlos Villegas, an economic adviser to Morales, said the industrialization of natural gas “is a fundamental topic” for Bolivia’s incoming government.

Morales was due to meet today with President Hu Jintao and China’s commerce minister.

The left-leaning Morales has alarmed Western governments with his plans to nationalize Bolivia’s gas resources. Villegas said Bolivia wants private companies to remain as partners to develop them and will renegotiate existing contracts following Morales’ Jan. 22 inauguration.

Morales, a former Indian activist, said he hoped to build ties between Bolivia’s socialist movement and China’s ruling Communist Party.

China, as part of its push for links to Latin America, has signed deals to develop Venezuelan oil fields, and its investments in the region include a Brazilian steel mill and copper mines in Chile and Peru.