China's Belt and Road Initiative was a key topic of discussion during Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic’s state visit to Beijing this week, his third to China in his five years as president. 

As his visit, which included talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, came to a close, Nikolic sat down with CGTN's Su Yuting to talk about relations between Serbia and China, and how the two countries can cooperate within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

“The aim of this visit is to summarize what we have done. President Xi Jinping and I talked about what we want to start, what we have achieved, what are our strategies. We also want to see how Serbia fits into the Belt and Road Initiative,” Nikolic said. 

"Serbia is fully behind the Belt and Road Initiative. We wanted to be a center along this route to help facilitate communications between China and Central and Eastern European countries,” he added. 

Nearly a quarter of all countries along the Belt and Road Initiative are in Central and Eastern Europe.

Serbia was one of the first countries to welcome China's Belt and Road Initiative, and it has already benefited from Chinese cooperation, with Chinese companies involved in building highways and bridges, including a planned high-speed railway from Belgrade to Budapest, Nikolic noted. 

‍“One of the very attractive projects will be in aviation. By attracting investment, we plan to reestablish a direct flight between Beijing and Belgrade that once existed. We are going to strengthen our economic ties to boost tourism and business as well." Nikolic also said.

Looking forward, he noted, “The Belt and Road Forum of International Cooperation will be held this May. There will be many more activities that will help us to further strengthen our cooperation.”