China–Venezuela relations are the international relations between the People's Republic of China and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Formal diplomatic relations between both countries were established in August 1944 and switched recognition to the PRC in 1974. Before 1999 only one sitting president, Luis Herrera Campins, had visited China. Cooperation began growing significantly during the Presidency of Hugo Chávez of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the tenure of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao as the leader of the People's Republic of China. China-Venezuelan trade was less than $500m per year before 1999, and reached $7.5bn in 2009, making China Venezuela's second-largest trade partner, and Venezuela is China's biggest investment destination in Latin America. Various bilateral de