the embattled socialist president of oil-dependent Venezuela said on Wednesday he had drummed up more than $20bn in investments from China for economic, social, technological, and oil-related projects back home, writes the FT's Andres Schipani.

"We have wrapped up over $20bn in investments during the course of this day's work, linked to the development of a group of projects," Maduro said after seeing his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

This was the pair's third meeting since Venezuela's leader took office in 2013, after the death of his mentor, Hugo Chávez. Observers believe the real reason why Mr Maduro travelled to Beijing this week was to seek a financing lifeline as he wrestles with a cash-crunch and fears of default exacerbated by plummeting crude prices.