Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday decided to upgrade their bilateral relationship to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

"Over the past 30 years, the China-Belarus relations have been constantly strengthened and upgraded, with solid progress in all-round cooperation," Xi said, adding that upgrading China-Belarus relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership is a "historic leap" in bilateral ties.

Xi said China is ready to work with Belarus to increase mutual political support, unleash the cooperation potential in various fields and promote greater progress in bilateral relations to benefit the two peoples.

He said China highly appreciates the support Belarus has always given China on issues concerning China's core interests, adding that China firmly supports Belarus in taking a development path suited to its national conditions and opposes external forces' interference in Belarus' domestic affairs under any pretext.

China is ready to work with Belarus to promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative and safeguard international fairness and justice, Xi added.

He said China will continue to support and assist Belarus in its COVID-19 response.

Meanwhile, Lukashenko said China is a highly reliable partner for many countries, including Belarus. The China-Belarus all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership conforms to the current situation and needs of bilateral relations, he said.

He also wished the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China a complete success.

After the meeting, the two countries issued a joint statement on upgrading China-Belarus ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two sides also agreed to deepen economic and trade cooperation and industrial cooperation and promote cooperation in digital fields such as e-commerce.

Noting that food security is one of the key areas of bilateral cooperation, China and Belarus vowed to enhance the supply capacity of high-quality food and said they are ready to implement modern high-tech agricultural projects.