Visit provides fresh impetus to boost dynamism of Sino-Serbian friendship: China Daily editorial

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, on Tuesday night for a state visit to the Republic of Serbia on the second leg of his European trip.

Unlike his first stop in France, where he discussed some of the thorniest issues affecting China's relations with not only France but also the European Union, the Chinese leader will have had easier discussions in the Balkan country, whose friendly relations with China have remained steadfast.

If his meetings in France with President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were about improving ties and deepening mutual understanding, those with his Serbian hosts will have been on ways to carry forward and strengthen the amity and close cooperation between the two countries.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has been a staunch supporter of friendly ties with China despite the geopolitical headwinds across Europe. He has defied the recent European tendency to target China as a "systemic rival" and offered his support for Beijing's proposals against major-power competition and for peace and cooperation.

With long-standing cordiality dating back to the era of socialist Yugoslavia, the friendship between China and present-day Serbia has stood the test of dramatic geopolitical changes. The Chinese leader's visit will only cement and upgrade what has already been in his own words an example of fine state-to-state relations, making the friendship between the two countries even more dynamic.

The relationship between the two countries carries very special significance today as both countries seek to carry forward their traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation amid the increasing global volatility.

In addition to expanding their common interests in economic and trade cooperation, the two countries have also sought and found broad common ground on regional and global affairs.

The importance the Chinese leader attaches to the bilateral relationship is obvious in the title of his signed article published in a local newspaper, Politika: "Let the Light of Ironclad Friendship Illuminate the Road of China-Serbia Cooperation".

Such amity has prospered particularly under the Chinese president's own watch. It was during his first visit to Belgrade in 2016 that the two countries established a strategic partnership. Last year, he and visiting President Vucic witnessed the signing of dozens of new cooperation agreements in Beijing, including a free trade deal expected to take effect in July.

China was Serbia's second-largest trading partner, after the European Union, last year with a total trade exchange of $6.1 billion, and it was among its top five investors. Serbia is a firm supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative. China-financed infrastructure projects under the framework of the initiative have become key development boosters of the country.

Serbian enthusiasm for Chinese economic and trade connections stands in sharp contrast with the noise in Europe for "de-risking" from China. That the Chinese president's arrival in Serbia coincided with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy has been widely interpreted as a pointed message on the growing unease between Beijing and the bloc that, encouraged by Washington, is seeking to extend its tentacles to the Asia-Pacific region citing "systematic challenges" posed by China.

"The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself," the Chinese leader said in the Politika article.

There is concern that the EU's growing unease about China's development momentum may be recklessly exploited by the string-puller of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to a crisis-causing degree.

Beijing looks forward to taking Xi's visit as an opportunity to keep relations with Europe on the right track of healthy development, so that the latter can view its relationship with China more objectively.