China has agreed to pay Ecuador one billion dollars in August as part of a deal to supply the energy-thirsty Asian giant with crude oil.
State-run Petroecuador said a deal inked on Thursday committed Beijing to pay the sum next month, a payment worth 28 percent of the total contract.
Under the deal China will receive millions of barrels of oil over two years.
Ecuador is OPEC's smallest-producing member, pumping out around 500,000 barrels of crude a day.
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