Chinese premier meets with Serbian PM

SHANGHAI -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday met with Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Macut in Shanghai, where Macut is to attend the eighth China International Import Expo.

Li said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, relations between China and Serbia have maintained a steady development momentum, and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields has been accelerated.

Since the beginning of this year, the two heads of state have met twice and reached broad consensuses on a series of major issues, mapping a direction for the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, Li said.

In the spirit of mutual respect and trust, China is willing to work with Serbia to provide firm mutual support for each other's core interests and major concerns, continuously enrich the connotations of bilateral relations, promote in-depth and substantive cooperation between the two countries, and bring more benefits to the two peoples, Li said.

He noted that the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China deliberated and adopted recommendations for the formulation of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan, devising strategic plans for China's development over the next five years and beyond.

He expressed China's willingness to enhance its alignment with Serbia's development plan, fully utilize the bilateral free trade agreement with Serbia, promote key projects within the framework of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and explore deep cooperation potential in areas such as sci-tech innovation, the green economy, biomedicine and artificial intelligence.

He called on both sides to enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges in fields such as culture, tourism, education and sports.

China is ready to coordinate and cooperate closely with Serbia on platforms such as the United Nations, and to encourage all parties to actively implement the four major global initiatives, practice true multilateralism, strengthen and improve global governance, and build a community with a shared future for humanity in an improved manner, Li noted.

Macut said the Serbian government adheres to the one-China principle and firmly supports China's legitimate position on safeguarding its core interests.

He expressed sincere appreciation for China's valuable support of Serbia's economic and social development, saying that Serbia looks forward to maintaining close, high-level exchange with China, and to deepening cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, investment, the processing industry, science and technology, artificial intelligence, and tourism.

Noting that China's economic growth has injected strong impetus into the world's sustainable development, Macut noted his belief that China's 15th Five-Year Plan would bring new opportunities to Serbia's and other countries' cooperation with China.

Serbia is a firm supporter of China-proposed concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity, and the four global initiatives, Macut said, adding that his country is willing to strengthen its collaboration with China on multilateral occasions to promote common development and prosperity.