The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Head of the PFG with China spoke about the history of relations between Serbia and China stressing that Serbia is the only country in Eastern Europe to have such a high level of relations with China as evidenced by the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement. Serbia and China share a traditional friendship and the cooperation between the two countries has been following an upward trend since 2009 to date, said Obradovic. He added that Serbia is very active in the 16+1 process and may even be the most active of the countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative, as evidenced by the fact that it has the highest number of proposed projects with China. Obradovic opined that it is especially important that Serbia as an EU candidate country can make its own, independent decisions about cooperation projects with China and advance cooperation in the fields of science, education, culture, economy, infrastructure, sports, etc.

Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Chairperson and member of the PFG with China Dubravka Filipovski opined that economic and business cooperation between Serbia and China has intensified in the last years, as has parliamentary cooperation resulting in the Mixed Commission established with a view to advancing parliamentary cooperation. She said that Serbia would continue to promote the Silk Road project and emphasize the initiative’s importance and usefulness. On the occasion, she also thanked China for its support of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Chen Guoping, Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, highlighted the importance of advancing economic cooperation, stressing that China is well aware of Serbia’s role in the Balkans, especially in light of the Silk Road project. He was particularly interested in what the Chinese side can do as regards realizing the treaties and agreements the two countries had signed.

Speaking of what China can do to help the realization of joint projects in Serbia, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said that more favourable loans by Chinese banks could boost the numbers of infrastructural projects, because financial reasons are the only ones that can hinder their realization.

Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and PFG with China Prof. Dr Ljubisa Stojmirovic said that China, as a powerful country, will become one of the key global players, which in turn comes with a number of duties especially as regards the uniform development of humankind and division of wealth.

The officials also spoke about cooperation in the fields of education and science and technology, with a special focus on the construction of industrial parks.

The meeting was also attended by Chinese delegation members Shao Binhong and Dr Tian Xu.