At least nine trade cooperation agreements were signed on Wednesday between China and Colombia that included the possible construction of a railway infrastructure in Colombia and an oil pipeline that will run from Venezuela to Colombia's Pacific coast.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who is currently on a trip to China along with his team of ministers, together with Chinese President Hu Jintao, presided over the signing of the agreements in Beijing.

The trade and investment agreements stand as an apparent confirmation of Colombia's refocus to shift its future oil and coal exports away from the U.S. and European markets, and into Asia, most particularly China where demand for basic commodities is most growing, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"With demand growing in China and elsewhere and the evolving energy market in the U.S., we have to start shifting our markets to Asia," the Wall Street Journal quoted Colombian Mines and Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas as saying.

Resource-hungry China is on the other hand also interested to take on the projects.

"There is an enormous interest from the government as well as from the companies we met with earlier today, in investing in specific projects like the pipeline linking Venezuela with the Pacific Ocean," Mr Santos told reporters. "The Chinese government is very interested in this project. The president himself said so, and so did several of the businessmen."

Among the agreements signed included a deal among Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol, the Sinochem conglomerate and the China Development Bank for a 600,000 barrel a day pipeline through Venezuela and Colombia to the Pacific Coast; and, between Hydrochina Corp. and Cormagdalena for the second phase of a project that will use and protect Colombia's main waterway.

The two countries also talked of a potential partnership to construct a railway in Colombia linking the country's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as mining coal and the mineral coltan, a vital ingredient used to make a number of consumer-electronic products such as cell phones and computers.