BEIJING, Sept. 13 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro Moros, who is on a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday.

The two presidents announced the elevation of the China-Venezuela relationship to an all-weather strategic partnership.

"The establishment of an all-weather strategic partnership between China and Venezuela meets the common expectations of the two peoples and conforms to the general trend of historical development," Xi said, calling on the two sides to push for more fruitful China-Venezuela strategic cooperation, bring more benefits to the two peoples and inject more positive energy into world peace and development.

Xi spoke about China's reform and opening up, especially the development of special economic zones, and noted that reform and opening up is an important instrument for China to catch up with the times in great strides and a crucial move in making China what it is today.

"China cherishes the valuable experience gained in this process and will continue to push forward reform and opening up. No force can stop China's development and progress," Xi said.

Xi said China stands ready to work with Venezuela to firmly support each other in exploring a development path suited to their national conditions and strengthen Party and national governance exchanges. He said China supports Venezuela in setting up special economic zones and will share relevant experience to help its national development.

Maduro said Venezuela's national development and Venezuela-China relations are at a significant stage. "The establishment of an all-weather strategic partnership is of historic significance and will surely usher in a new era of bilateral relations."

He said Venezuela is willing to learn from China's experience in building special economic zones and deepen practical cooperation in agriculture, investment, education, and tourism.

Maduro said Venezuela supports the joint construction of the Belt and Road. The Venezuelan side also supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by Xi.

Venezuela stands ready to strengthen communication and cooperation with China within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations and the BRICS mechanism, safeguard multilateralism and the legitimate interests of developing countries, and promote building a community with a shared future for humanity, according to the Venezuelan president.