Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli arrived in Belgrade Monday afternoon for a visit aimed at advancing China's practical cooperation with Serbia and other Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs).
Top on Zhang's agenda is to implement the consensus China and the 16 CEECs have reached during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visits to the region over the past two years.
During Li's 2014 visit to Serbia, Chinese and CEEC government leaders signed the Belgrade Guidelines for China-CEECs cooperation, in which they agreed to strengthen all-round cooperation, including the development of a China-Europe express line consisting of sea routes and land transport systems.
China signed a memorandum with Serbia and Hungary in 2013 to jointly build and update the railway between Belgrade and Budapest. In 2014, the three countries and Macedonia signed another agreement to extend the Hungary-Serbia railway into an express transport line that starts from Piraeus port in Greece, runs through Belgrade in Serbia and Skopje in Macedonia and ends in Budapest.
The express line will become a convenient route for trade and goods transport between China and Europe. Since Serbia is located at the hub of transport between the East and the West, it has been playing an active role in developing the Hungary-Serbia railway and the China-Europe express line.
During his visit to Belgrade, Zhang will meet Serbian leaders to advance the implementation of concrete projects related to the railway and express line.
The two sides will also exchange views on advancing China-CEECs cooperation and China-EU relations.
