Insights丨Mutual trust reinforces Serbia's ironclad friendship with China: former Serbian senior diplomat

By Gan Tian

(ECNS) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Serbia on Tuesday at the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is a strategically important visit in many aspects, Zivadin Jovanovic, president of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals and Silk Road Connectivity Research Center and former Serbian senior diplomat, told China News Network recently.

Jovanovic spoke highly of the ironclad friendship between Serbia and China, which was reinforced by mutual trust. He also expressed hopes for more cooperation in the future.

China, the most important partner in modernizing Serbian economy

“We perceive China as the most important partner in modernizing our economy. With China as a strategic comprehensive partner, Serbia has become a more attractive partner for the rest of Europe and the world,” said Jovanovic. 

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. From Hungary-Serbia Railway to Zemun-Borca Bridge and HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant, cooperation between the two countries has yielded fruitful results.

In Jovanovic's view, these cooperations "mean a lot to Serbia." He pointed out that Serbia has benefited from China’s development strategies and economic growth. “China, as an important contributor to global economy development, deserves tribute for helping Serbia advance its GDP growth. "

Jovanovic emphasized that under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework, Serbia has achieved industrial and economic modernization and higher speed in overall socioeconomic development. He added that Serbia also “is getting closer to our own neighborhoods, closer to European markets, economies and partners, and closer to many BRI partner countries.”

Ever-growing ironclad friendship reinforced by mutual trust

During the interview, Jovanovic hailed ironclad friendship between Serbia and China which is ever-growing and reinforced by mutual trust.

"With mutual trust, you can have ironclad friendship. It is a very specific characteristic of general relations between Serbia and China. We simply trust each other and that is the strongest investment in ourfuture cooperation." he said.

When facing difficulties, China and Serbia have always supported each other. After a massive earthquake that struck Wenchuan county in China’s Sichuan Province in 2008, Serbia offered speedy assistance to China, providing a large amount of relief supplies. When Serbia was battling flood disasters in 2014, China also delivered disaster-relief supplies to Serbia.

Jovanovic mentioned that he has visited China many times during the last few years, and was impressed by Chinese people’s solidarity to build a better future for their country as well as their modesty and sharing values. In his eyes, China is always “open to absorb whatever positive from other peoples, but also ready to share its achievements and offer help to other countries”.

"So Serbia perceives China as the most important strategic partner not only because of economic cooperation and technology transfer, but also because we share the same values. Worldwide, we are seeking for modernization of our own economies, but we are also helping others to modernize their economies, thus reinforcing peace, understanding, solidarity and people-to-people exchanges," he said.

Jovanovic expected that the two countries can strengthen cooperation and make more contributions to regional peace and development.