On February 15, Serbia's Statehood Day, President Aleksandar Vucic honored nine Chinese physicians and Chinese biotech company BGI Group for their aid in the country's COVID-19 battle. 

The 170 individuals and institutions arrived in Serbia at the start of the pandemic, sharing their expertise with local counterparts. The gold medals for merit were conferred on nine members of the doctors' team in absentia. The BGI Group, which helped Serbia build two state-of-the-art "Fire Eye" laboratories for COVID-19 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing, received the first class of the Order of the Serbian Flag.