Chinese President Xi Jinping is starting a two-day official visit to Serbia today, at the invitation of the country's president, Aleksandar Vučić, with whom he will discuss the improvement of bilateral relations and cooperation.
Si is coming to Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of the destruction of the Chinese embassy building in the NATO bombing, as part of his first visit to Europe in the last five years, during which he stayed in only two other countries, France and Hungary.
Xi and Vučić are expected to discuss a wide range of topics, from political, economic and technological to cooperation in the field of culture.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said last week that during his visit to Belgrade, Xi will "exchange views in detail with President Vučić on China-Serbia relations and international and regional issues of common interest" and that he will "chart a course" for the future development of bilateral relations.
Xi is also expected to open a Chinese cultural center in Belgrade, built on the site of the bombed Chinese embassy, where three Chinese journalists were killed on May 7, 1999.
The Chinese president is coming to Belgrade about six months after Vučić's visit to Beijing, during which the officials of Serbia and China, at the international forum "Belt and Road", signed the Free Trade Agreement in the presence of the two leaders. The free trade agreement between Serbia and China should enter into force in July.
Vučić said last week that during the visit of Sija, Serbia will initiate projects of accelerated technological development in those spheres in which there is not enough knowledge, "from robotics, satellite technology, flying cars and many other things".
On April 30, the Government of Serbia adopted acts on the improvement of cooperation with China in the fields of education, science, innovation, technological development, as well as economic and technical cooperation in the field of infrastructure.
Vučić's cabinet announced that a limited number of media will be able to cover the visit of the Chinese president based on the principle of reciprocity with the visiting delegation.
On the eve of Si's second official visit to Serbia in eight years, Vučić declared that China is Belgrade's "best partner" in achieving national goals, saying that the Chinese president is "the most powerful man in the world."
"I am overjoyed that President Xi is coming to Serbia. It is a great honor for Serbia and a great opportunity for us. In the next five years, almost all products will be free for export to China. These are big things for us. I will ask President Xi for two or three things, to let's see if we can start the locomotive and train factories again, so that some of the Chinese companies invest in Serbia," said Vučić.
After yesterday's meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Belgrade, Li Ming, Vučić said that it is an "immeasurable honor" that Xi is doing Serbia by coming to Belgrade, "especially considering Serbia's plans for a strong acceleration of overall development, as well as the global geopolitical context".
"Proud of our steely friendship with China, we look forward to the visit of President Xi, convinced that our hospitality will show how much Serbia values the partnership with this great country," said Vučić.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last Sunday that Beijing was looking forward to the visit "as another opportunity to cement iron friendship" with Serbia.
In an interview last week with Chinese state television CCTV, Vučić said that Serbia "firmly adheres to the principle of one China" and that it considers the island of Taiwan to be part of that country.
"With us, everything is very simple, because we know what the UN Charter is, we know how the international public order should work and we know that we have a friend. And that's why we always easily say - Taiwan is China, period. We believe that President Xi will take care of Taiwan in the right way in the future, the way he wants, the way the Chinese want," said Vučić.
Belgrade and Beijing are brought closer together by Serbia's policy - military neutrality and non-alignment of foreign policy with the European Union in relation to China and Russia, as well as a common attitude towards the issue of territorial integrity.
The previous time Xi Jinping made an official visit to Serbia was in June 2016. During that first visit of the President of China to Belgrade after more than 30 years, the officials of the two countries signed a series of interstate agreements, including the Declaration on Strategic Partnership.
The Chinese president is coming to Serbia from France, and will go to Hungary from Belgrade. Western media report that the Chinese president will have difficult meetings in Paris, and easy ones in Belgrade and Budapest, and pay special attention to the fact that Xi is coming to Serbia on the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy.
The US agency Associated Press writes that Xi will spend most of his five-day European tour "in two small countries with autocratic leaders considered friendly to China and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a region that Beijing uses as a foothold for economic expansion in Europe."
Brnabić: The visit is a serious flywheel in further cooperation with China
The President of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, said today that the visit of Sija is a recognition of Belgrade's independent foreign policy and that it will be a "serious impetus for further cooperation".
Brnabić told Happy television that the visit of the Chinese president to Serbia will bring a lot of good to every citizen "individually", and that the partnership with China is "in mutual interest".
"All such visits are built on an equal footing and the interests of Serbia and its citizens always come first," said Brnabić.
She said that during the previous government, Serbia had "no relations with China", while today China is "the single largest foreign investor" in Serbia.
"China invested one billion and 2023 million in Serbia in 370, which is almost one third of the total foreign investments that entered in 2023," said Brnabić.
Speaking about Serbia's indebtedness with loans from that country, Brnabić said that "China is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, lender in the whole world."
"They are quite favorable and extremely efficient in processing those loans. They (loans) are extremely good for Serbia. All the loans we take are investment loans," Brnabić pointed out.
She also said that "the level of borrowing is lower than the European average", while thanks to the Chinese company "Ziđin" Serbia is today "the second largest European producer of copper".
"Soon, thanks to the investments of 'Zidjin', we will be the biggest force in copper production. Our exports to China have exceeded one billion dollars a year. In 2023, we exported one billion and 230 million dollars to China," said Brnabić.
She also announced that the direct Belgrade-Shanghai flight "will soon be opened".
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