BEIJING, Jan 8: Bolivian president-elect Evo Morales appealed on Sunday to China’s business leaders to help him use Bolivia’s substantial gas reserves to alleviate poverty in South America’s poorest country. During a meeting with State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan in Beijing, Morales invited Chinese businesses to invest in Bolivia, in particular in its vital energy sector, the president-elect’s economic adviser Carlos Villegas said.

The Chinese had declared themselves ready to work with Morales to help industrialize the country, he added.

Morales was on a two-day visit to China as part of a whistle-stop global tour ahead of his inauguration later this month.

The 46-year-old coca farmer and left-wing activist was elected Bolivia’s first indigenous president last month.

“The subject of hydrocarbons, in particular the industrialization of natural gas, is of key concern to the government of Evo Morales,” Villegas said.

Bolivia has natural gas reserves second only to those of Venezuela. China’s thirst for natural gas is skyrocketing as the country undergoes rapid economic development and industrialization.

Villegas said that the Chinese could be interested in converting Bolivia’s natural gas into ecological diesel.

“In addition to Bolivia, that would benefit other countries who today have a high demand for ecological diesel because of the high levels of pollution,” he said.

Morales, a critic of free market economic policies, has vowed to increase state control over the country’s natural gas reserves and to pursue other radical policies.

He has promised to review deals made with foreign oil companies once he takes office on Jan 22.

Morales is due to meet President Hu Jintao on Monday, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, which said energy issues would top the agenda.

China is the latest stop on his first world tour.

Villegas said Morales now intends to head to India and Iran before continuing with the remainder of his scheduled itinerary to South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

“There are weather problems especially in India which may not allow us to land at the airport, we are waiting for confirmation,” the president-elect’s adviser said.—AFP