Chinese President Hu Jintao cancelled a planned visit to Venezuela on Saturday as part of his Latin American tour because of a strong earthquake in northwestern China that left more than 600 people dead, President Hugo Chávez said on Thursday during his visit to Nicaragua.

President Hu "called me and told me (..) that unfortunately he had to cancel a visit to Venezuela on Saturday," as he has to address the emergency situation following a quake, Chávez said during a press conference in Managua after a meeting with his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega, AFP reported.

Chávez agreed with the Chinese leader to reschedule the visit, in a telephone conversation in which the Venezuelan president expressed his condolences to his Chinese counterpart for the tragedy.