CARACAS - Venezuela is open to paying its $10 billion debt to China, lawmaker Nicolas Maduro Guerra, son of President Nicolas Maduro, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Venezuela's relationship with China is "foolproof and weatherproof," Maduro Guerra said, adding that Chinese companies are open to investing in the South American country.

Maduro Guerra's father is running for re-election in voting scheduled for July, amid complaints that opposition politicians are treated unfairly, prompting the U.S. to reimpose sanctions on the OPEC nation's oil industry.

Venezuela "must expand and we are seeking to expand" the oil industry, Maduro Guerra said.

"We depended on selling oil to the United States (...) if it doesn't want to buy, we'll sell it somewhere else." REUTERS