She said that after Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia, Serbian parliamentarians had the opportunity to participate in the 4th meeting of the Commission for Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress. "We had the opportunity to exchange mutual experiences, to open space for good cooperation," Ragus told Tanjug. She went on to say that the Serbian parliamentarians also had a meeting with the Chairman of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji who was delivered Parliament the Speaker Ana Brnabic’s invitation to come to Serbia, and added that they expect the visit to take place soon.

Speaking of the visit to Shenzhen, she said that the Serbian parliamentarians had the opportunity to see some of the most important companies of that city, such as Huawei, BYD, Mindray, UBTECH, as well as to meet with the Chairman of the National People's Congress in Shenzhen Dai Yunglong. She said that she expects a return visit by representatives of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shenzhen to Serbia, as well as a deepening of cooperation with the most important companies of that city, "(companies) that offer extraordinary potential, both to the state of Serbia and to small and medium-sized enterprises," said Ragus.

Another member of the delegation, special advisor to the National Assembly Speaker Mihailo Jovanovic assessed that the visit to China yielded significant political and economic results, adding out that the meeting of Serbian and Chinese parliamentarians was the first meeting of the official delegations of the two countries after the meeting between presidents Vucic and Xi in Belgrade, when the declaration on the Community with a shared future was signed. Speaking about high-tech companies from Shenzhen, he pointed out that these companies spend 20 to 30% of their income on research and development and use artificial intelligence in all areas. "I am sure that these experiences from Shenzhen will help us realise our “Serbia 2027 - Leap into the future” programme, our plans for modernisation, the application of artificial intelligence, digitalisation and biotechnology as quickly and efficiently as possible. We will also try to open the door to large Chinese companies, which are not sufficiently present in Europe," Jovanovic told Tanjug.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of the Committee on the Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy Snezana Paunovic assessed the visit of the Serbian delegation to China as very successful and stated that the example of the city of Shenzhen, which has developed very quickly in the last 30 years, is an additional motivation for the plans related to the "Leap into the Future" project. She said that upon her return to Belgrade, she will speak with relevant ministries and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, in order to point out to them the importance of cooperation with large companies from Shenzhen.

She reminded that the Free Trade Agreement with China will come into force on 1 July, which will require certain adjustments to the legal solutions in both countries, adding that the Serbian Parliament will do its part of the work in this regard very soon. "I believe that there is room for cooperation here, that there is a lot of room for opening doors to Chinese companies in Serbia. This will certainly strengthen our economy and create new jobs," said Paunovic for Tanjug. She added that she hopes Serbia will also have the opportunity to host representatives of Chinese politics and business, opining that the Chinese understood that Serbia is a good bridge for their cooperation with Europe.

Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government Dr Ugljesa Mrdic thanked the Chinese hosts for their hospitality. "This is a confirmation of the sincere, friendly relations between the Republic of Serbia and the People's Republic of China, this is just a confirmation of everything agreed upon by the two presidents, Aleksandar Vucic and Xi Jinping. Bilateral relations are at the highest level and I expect continued good cooperation between the legislative institutions in the coming period," said Mrdic for Tanjug.

The National Assembly delegation concluded its official visit to China, which started in Beijing on Monday. The delegation participated in the 4th meeting of the Commission for Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress and the work of that Commission represents the highest level of institutional cooperation that Serbia has with another country. In Beijing, the Serbian parliamentarians met with the Chairman of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji, who is the third-ranking member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, which makes him the third-ranking person in China. In Beijing, the Serbian delegation also visited the Serbian Cultural Centre, Forbidden City, Museum of the Communist Party of China and the China Railway Group.

Source: TANJUG