STORY: China-Serbia ties have become stronger over time, says Chinese envoy
SHOOTING TIME: May 2, 2024
DATELINE: May 3, 2024
LENGTH: 0:02:11
LOCATION: Belgrade
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Serbia
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): LI MING, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia

STORYLINE:

The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has been strengthened over time amid the changing international landscape and has continuously shown new vitality, a Chinese envoy has said.

China and Serbia have worked hand in hand in the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and in their stride toward modernization, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming told Xinhua, adding that the development of the two countries have benefited their people.

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): LI MING, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia
"The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has been strengthened over time amid the changing international landscape and has continuously shown new vitality.
In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Serbia relations have achieved leapfrog development, maintaining a high-level operation and reaching historic highs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Serbia in 2016, and Serbia became China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe.
President Xi and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic have met on many occasions and maintained correspondence and telephone exchanges in recent years, with bilateral relations continuously moving to new and high levels.
China and Serbia always firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, understand each other and share similar views on international and regional affairs, and maintain close coordination in multilateral fields.
At the invitation of President Vucic, President Xi will pay a state visit to Serbia, eight years after his last visit to the country. The visit will mark an important milestone for strengthening and elevating China-Serbia ties.
During his visit to Serbia, Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with Vucic on international and regional issues of common concern, as well as bilateral relations, explore ways to upgrade bilateral ties, chart course for the future development of bilateral relations, and enrich practical cooperation between the two countries.
Guided by the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, China will work with Serbia to leverage mechanisms such as the free trade agreement between the two countries and the Mid-Term Action Plan for Belt and Road Cooperation, deepen cooperation in traditional fields such as trade, investment, and infrastructure construction, and explore cooperation potential in emerging fields such as technological innovation, digital economy and green transition, so as to inject vigorous impetus into the economic development of the two countries and bring benefits to their people.
I believe that China-Serbia cooperation will further expand in the future, bringing the people of China and Serbia closer and closer, fostering stronger bonds between them."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Belgrade.
(XHTV)