Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Serbia concluded on May 8, 2024 with a more than ever strengthened bond between the two nations – an ‘ironclad friendship’ as they termed it. With this, the Balkan state has become the first European nation to build high-level bilateral relations with the dragon country, setting a friendly China example for the other European countries urging them to establish bilateral ties.
“The announcement on deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic partnership and building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era marks a new milestone in the history of this bilateral relationship,” said Serbian President Vucic.
Despite changing political scenarios on the international platform, both countries remained committed to building a community with foundations in mutual trust, cooperation and a shared future. In a signed article published Tuesday in Politika, a Belgrade-based Serbian daily, Xi wrote that the ironclad friendship between the two countries is ever-growing. “Whatever changes in the international landscape, China and Serbia remain true friends and good partners,” he wrote.
On Tuesday, the Chinese President was greeted with a humongous crowd of more than 10,000 Serbians cheering “China ! Serbia !”, hailing the immortal friendship between the two countries.
What does a shared community behold ?
“We signed a joint statement today. That joint statement is a strategically important direction for the development of our bilateral relations, as well as our worldview,” Vučić said at a joint press conference with Xi, suggesting the highest level of cooperation between the two countries.
Vucic and Xi signed a Joint Declaration of the two countries on expanding their comprehensive strategic partnership along with a set of 28 documents of cooperation in a delegation level meeting at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade.
Last year, the Serbian President had also signed a document of Free Trade Agreement with China. The agreement clearly violates the criteria required for EU membership, especially when the Balkan state wishes to join the 27-country bloc.
This FTA which is said to reduce or abolish custom duties on thousands of products, including lithium ion batteries, solar panels, cars, machinery, agriculture and marine products will take effect from July 1 as Prez Xi announced on Wednesday.
China-Serbia’s Diplomatic history at a glance
China established bilateral relations with the Balkan state in 1955. While their relation in the early 2000s was merely diplomatic, lately it has been raised to high level dialogues and several visits by high ranking officials characterized by significant cooperation between the two countries.
On Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Serbia, dated 17-19 June 2016, the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations was signed, marking the elevation of their bilateral relations to strategically important relations.
Last year, both the President and the Prime Minister of Serbia paid a visit to China on two separate occasions. President Alexander Vučić visited China in October 2023, when he participated in the Third Belt and Road forum for international cooperation. Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Ana Brnabić visited the People’s Republic of China in November 2023 to participate in the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. During the visit, Prime Minister A. Brnabić had a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and Prime Minister Li Qiang in Shanghai.
In 2022, the People’s Republic of China was the second most important foreign trade partner of the Republic of Serbia, after Germany, amounting to $6.15 billion trade value.
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Significance of this bilateral relation
China’s Belt and Road Initiate which aims to establish economically stable relations with countries around the globe is losing ground in Europe, such as Baltics and Italy for quite some time. This recent effort in the name of a European tour in three countries, France, Serbia and Hungary, is aimed at fostering the cooperative relationship with China and build a Chinese strong hold in Europe, essential for it to become a superpower nation.
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