On the afternoon of September 13, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Venezuelan President Maduro, who was in China for a state visit.

Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Venezuela are good friends who trust each other and good partners for common development. In recent years, China and Venezuela have both gone through extraordinary development processes. The two sides have supported each other in the changing international situation and have forged an iron-clad friendship. China has always viewed the development of relations with Venezuela from a strategic and long-term perspective, firmly supports Venezuela's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, national dignity, and social stability, and firmly supports Venezuela's just cause of opposing external interference. The establishment of an all-weather strategic partnership between China and Venezuela is in line with the common expectations of the two peoples and conforms to the general trend of historical development. Both sides should promote China-Venezuela strategic cooperation to bear more fruits, bring more benefits to the people of the two countries, and inject more positive energy into world peace and development.

Maduro said that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has become a great country committed to peace, development and welfare of all mankind, and an important engine promoting a new multi-polar world. Everything I saw and heard during my visit to China fully demonstrated China's progress and strength. I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to the Communist Party of China for its great achievements. Venezuela and China enjoy profound friendship and fruitful cooperation. Their relations can be regarded as a model for relations between countries in the global South. The Venezuelan people sincerely thank the Chinese government and people for their valuable support and assistance when Venezuela suffered from illegal unilateral sanctions and the multiple difficulties caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. It is precisely thanks to the help of our Chinese brothers that the Venezuelan people have withstood the test and made extraordinary achievements in the cause of national economic construction. The current development of Venezuela and China-Venezuela relations are at an important period. My state visit to China and my announcement together with President Xi Jinping to upgrade Venezuela-China relations to an all-weather strategic partnership are of historic significance and will surely open a new era for Venezuela-China relations. Venezuela is willing to learn from China's experience in building special economic zones and deepen practical cooperation between the two countries in agriculture, investment, education, tourism and other fields. Venezuela actively supports the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, supports the global development initiative, global security initiative, and global civilization initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, and is willing to work closely with China to communicate and collaborate within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations and the BRICS mechanism to safeguard multilateralism and development. The legitimate interests of the country promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. Venezuela is willing to play an active role in promoting the further development of relations between CELAC and China. Editor/Xu Shengpeng