Upgrade in China-Serbia ties highly expected and warmly welcomed

Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.

During their Wednesday meeting in Serbia, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić have decided to build a community with a shared future, an upgrade of their relations from the comprehensive strategic partnership established eight years ago.

This decision has made Serbia the first European country to build a community with a shared future with China. This, as Xi noted, fully demonstrates the strategic, special and high-level nature of the bilateral relationship. The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia, characterized by profound historical roots, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and strong popular support, has been recognized by all sides.

Serbia is proud of having the highest level of relations with China and considered Xi's state visit as its most important foreign diplomatic event this year, said Serbian ambassador to China Maja Stefanovic.

"In the past eight years, the China and Serbia relationship has developed exponentially, setting an example for cooperation between China and CEE countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)," China's ambassador to Serbia Li Ming said, adding that this partnership has significantly contributed to the building of a community with a shared future. Projects under the BRI, as Li noted, have "significantly improved local livelihoods, booting employment, trade and investment, and energizing Serbia's development."

Deepening and expanding high-quality BRI cooperation is a consensus reached between the two countries. The Hungary-Serbia railway, for instance, is a flagship project under Beijing-Belgrade BRI cooperation. "This railway is a very important connection between the south of Europe with the north. And this is the railway that can be used also by the European countries (and) other countries to transport their goods and to communicate with Asian countries," Ivona Ladjevac, Deputy Director of Serbia Institute of International Politics and Economics, said in an interview with CGTN.

"So far, 8 million people have taken this high-speed railway. I think the greatest convenience that brings to Serbia is the possibility of integrated development between the two largest cities," said Chen Bo, former Chinese ambassador to Serbia and President of China Institute of International Studies.

Apart from infrastructure, an upgrade in the China-Serbia relationship is broadening their cooperation beyond traditional sectors, unlocking vast potential in innovation, new energy, biotechnology and other emerging industries. During his Serbia stay, Xi pledged that China will support 50 young Serbia scientists in joining scientific research exchanges in China in the next three years and will strengthen cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI).

Jelena Begović, Minister of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, believes that the Xi-Vučić meeting is "a big step for future collaboration" between the two countries, adding that China and Serbia are foreseeing collaborations in scientific research, space, poverty alleviation, AI and so forth.

People-to-people exchange is another important facet of China-Serbia cooperation. In their meeting, Xi welcomes the opening of direct flights from Belgrade to Shanghai by the Serbian side. Vučić also stressed the need for intensifying connections between the two peoples and his anticipation for more direct fights between the two countries.

"Reciprocal visa exemptions, mutual driving license recognition and direct flights have facilitated travel for Chinese visitors and further deepened the people-to-people exchanges between the two nations," Li said.

Euronews Serbia journalist Nevena Kostadinović believes that deepened Beijing-Belgrade cooperation is mutually beneficial, bringing more jobs to both sides. The term "steel friends" reflects not only "their robust cooperation in the steel sector … but also their resilient traditional friendship that has overcome various challenges over time," said Slavica Stamenic, a researcher at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, Serbia.

The China-Serbia relationship has leapfrogged with historic progress over the past few years. Since their establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, their relations have been enriched in substance. Now, agreeing to build a community with a shared future, the Beijing-Belgrade relationship, as many anticipate, will set a model for state-to-state relations.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)