Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his two-day visit to Beijing this week is part of the creation of a "new world order."
The frequent US critic, who was to meet with China's president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao on Wednesday, told reporters upon arriving the evening before that power in the world was shifting from America to countries such as Iran, Japan and China.
"We are creating a new world, a balanced world. A new world order, a multipolar world," Chavez said.