Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in Beijing, beginning a multi-day visit to China where, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, he will attend the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) reported this morning.
During his visit to Beijing, Vučić will meet with Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as with other high officials and representatives of major companies, the President’s Media Cooperation Service announced. Tomorrow, September 3, Vučić will attend a large military parade on Victory Day, and leaders of 26 countries have been invited to the parade.
Deepening of Strategic Partnership
Vučić met with the Chinese president during a visit to Beijing in October 2023, when 18 agreements were signed, including the Free Trade Agreement between Serbia and China. Xi Jinping visited Serbia in May 2024, and in 2016, which was the first visit of a Chinese president to Serbia after 32 years, and the Declaration on Strategic Partnership was then signed. In May 2024, during Xi’s visit to Serbia, the two presidents signed a Joint Statement on the Deepening and Elevation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Building of a Serbia-China Community with a Shared Future, and 28 cooperation documents were also exchanged.
Vučić then emphasized that Serbia is proud of its iron friendship with China and that no one will be able to break that friendship, and that the two countries will continue to work together for the benefit of their peoples. The Chinese president then said that the iron friendship between China and Serbia is continuously strengthening and emphasized that China supports Serbia in adhering to its independence, as well as supporting Serbia’s efforts to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity on the issue of Kosovo.
Growth of Trade Exchange
Foreign trade between Serbia and China in the first six months of this year increased to 4.33 billion US dollars, while in the same period last year it amounted to 3.62 billion, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce stated. Last year, China was the single largest investor in Serbia with more than one billion euros of annual investments.
The largest Chinese investors in Serbia are the company Zijin, which invested in RTB Bor in 2018, and the company Hesteel, which acquired Železara Smederevo in 2016. According to the data of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two countries have very good project cooperation in the fields of infrastructure and energy, and among the most significant projects are the Pupin Bridge, the construction of sections of the “Miloš Veliki” highway, the reconstruction of the “Kostolac” TPP, and others. In addition, the investment of the company Shandong Linglong in the construction of a tire factory in Zrenjanin in 2019 is also significant, and a Chinese factory for the production of car interior components was opened in Kragujevac in November 2019, RTS reports.
Serbia attaches importance to cooperation with China within the framework of the cooperation mechanism between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as through the “Belt and Road” initiative.
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Source: Nedeljnik; Foto: ATA Images