Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Meets with Wang Yi

On October 28, 2021 local time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Belgrade.

Vucic asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping. Vucic said, China is Serbia's most reliable, most valuable and greatest friend, and Serbia and China have the deserved "ironclad friendship". The two countries enjoy strong political trust, substantially increasing economic and trade exchanges, and pragmatic cooperation has brought benefits to the people. Serbia sincerely appreciates President Xi Jinping for his personal attention to and important strategic guidance for Serbia-China relations. It thanks China for firmly supporting Serbia to protect its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for China's assistance to Serbia in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, developing the economy and improving people's wellbeing. Serbia will unswervingly pursue a friendly policy towards China, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, and jointly implement major Belt and Road projects, so as to continue to scale new heights in bilateral relations.

Wang Yi conveyed President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings and best wishes to Vucic. Wang Yi said, the Chinese people and the Serbian people attach great importance to friendship and justice, and both of them defy power politics and stand against bullying. China-Serbia relations enjoy a strong internal driving force and a broad prospect. For a long time, the two brotherly countries have supported and helped each other, jointly protecting respective legitimate rights and interests and safeguarding international equity and justice. China is proud of its "ironclad friendship" with Serbia, and will continue to expand bilateral friendly cooperation, firmly support Serbia in delivering faster and better development under the leadership of President Vucic, firmly support Serbia in protecting national independence and national dignity, and firmly support Serbia in playing a more active role in regional and international affairs. China is willing to actively synergize the development strategies of the two countries, and speed up cooperation in industrial capacity building and infrastructural projects such as the Belgrade-Budapest Railway within the Belt and Road framework. China will also expand cooperation with Serbia in digital, innovative and green development, and assist Serbia in achieving sustainable development, so as to translate the traditional friendship into more tangible results and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

Wang Yi said, President Xi Jinping solemnly proposed the Global Development Initiative, which is another important global public good provided by China as a responsible major country, with a focus on the global development cause and international development cooperation. The initiative will gather strength for speeding up the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, help promote the early recovery of the world economy, promote green and sound development, and deliver benefits to the people of all countries. China welcomes Serbian active participation in this endeavor. Vucic said, Serbia fully agrees with the initiative and will actively take part in and implement this important proposal.

On the same day, Serbia issued a license to Chinese enterprises for the construction of a section of the Belgrade-Budapest Railway. Vucic speaks highly of the bilateral cooperation in infrastructural construction, and hopes that the railway will play an important role in promoting European connectivity.

After the meeting, Vucic invited Wang Yi to jointly meet the press.

During the visit, Wang Yi also met with Serbian National Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, and held talks with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic.