China rebuffs U.S. criticism of relations with oil-rich Venezuela

A general view of the Cardon refinery complex which belongs to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Punto Fijo, Venezuela November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's support for Venezuela has benefited ordinary people and been broadly welcomed, the foreign ministry said on Monday after the U.S. Treasury accused China of aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government with murky oil-for-loan investments.

In a Friday speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. Treasury's top economic diplomat, David Malpass, said China's focus on commodities and opaque financing deals had hurt, not helped, countries in the region.