President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic met today with Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China General Wei Fenghe discussing further intensification of dialogue and promotion of cooperation between the two countries in numerous areas, as well as readiness to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Serbia and China.

President Vucic wished a warm welcome to Minister Fenghe and emphasized that this meeting would result in even more fruitful cooperation between our two countries. "We are convinced that this visit is another demonstration of the iron-clad friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Serbia and China, and also a sign of its deepening in all areas", President Vucic stressed and added that Serbia and its competent authorities were ready to work together with the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China on the further development of the overall relations between the two countries, especially in the field of military economic, military medical and military educational cooperation.

The collocutors agreed that the traditional friendship between our countries, but also the constant deepening of friendly relations, gained special momentum during the historic visit of the President of the People's Republic of China to our country in 2016, which raised it to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership. President Vucic reiterated his gratitude for China's help to Serbia during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially emphasizing that the continuity of dialogue and further intensification of cooperation between Serbia and China was preserved despite the pandemic.

The two interlocutors noted that one of the important characteristics of our strong bilateral relations was Serbia's participation in the mechanism of cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (17 + 1), as well as the Belt and Road initiative, to which the Republic of Serbia attached great importance and lent support. The Serbian President reiterated in particular the unwavering position of our country when it comes to supporting the policy of "one China" and added that he highly appreciated the consistent position of China regarding respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

President Vucic emphasized that he was pleased with the dynamic development of military cooperation and expressed Serbia's interest in its further intensification. The President pointed out in particular that Serbia was looking forward with great joy to a new visit by President Xi Jinping to Serbia when the conditions allow, after the normalization of epidemiological situation.

26 March 2021