Serbian Officials Express High Hopes for Xi's Visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on August 31, 2015. [Photo: Xinhua]

Ahead of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, officials in Serbia say they're confident the trip is going to have a significant impact on the country's ties with China.

Looking forward to Xi Jinping's upcoming visit, President of the Serbian Parliament, Maja Gojkovic, suggests China-Serbia ties are already on a solid footing.

"I hope the visit will be eventful and successful. The relations between Serbia and China have been developing proactively. China is a very sincere friend to us, and it has never cast any vote or made any decisions against Serbia's interests. China has never admitted the independence unilaterally declared by Kosovo. We very much appreciate China's unshakable support on Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Beyond political ties, Gojkovic says economic links have also been growing, and she believes new Chinese industrial projects in Serbia could be on the horizon.

"For example, Chinese companies have built bridges in Belgrade, railway lines between Belgrade and Budapest, and remodeled a steel factory in Serbia. More moves have been made to further strengthen our economic ties, for example, the Serbian government representatives led by our Prime Minister will hold talks with their Chinese counterparts about the possibility of establishing a Chinese industrial zone in Serbia, as one of the cooperation prospects."

Gojkovic says investment from China and a strategic partnership with China will only serve to stimulate the development of Serbia's economy.

She says as Serbia continues to seek a membership in the European Union, plans are also in-place to expand cooperation with other countries outside the EU, including China.

Zorana Mihajlovic is Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the Minister of Transportation, Construction and Infrastructure.

She says Chinese companies have already been able to improve Serbia's infrastructure since the two countries formed a strategic partnership in 2009.

"Now, we have the high speed railway project from Belgrade to Budapest, and the No. 11 expressway linking Montenegro and Serbia. The total investment from China to Serbia has reached the scale of 2.5 billion to 2.8 billion dollars. We hope the commercial contracts will be signed in a few months after the visit of the Chinese President."

Mihajlovic says much of the work being done between China and Serbia is through a cooperation mechanism, which was established between China and Central and Eastern European countries and known as the 16+1 mechanism.

"We are happy that China chose Serbia as a partner and let us be its biggest partner in the Balkan region. Most of the funds invested by China in the Balkans were eventually flowed to Serbia. Through direct investment to Serbia, it shows that Serbia is the center of the China-CEE 16+1 mechanism, and it is also an important country for infrastructure investment."

The 16 + 1 mechanism was established in 2012 among China and 16 countries which make up central and eastern Europe.

Bilateral trade volumes between those countries and China easily surpassed 50 billion US dollars last year.

Both the Serbian President Tomislav Nikoli? and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vu?i? visited China last year.

The Chinese government is on-record saying it views Serbia as an important partner in its "Belt and Road" initiative, particularly as a distribution hub to move products back and forth from China and the rest of Europe.