Thewesternbalkans
Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djurić paid an official visit to China from December 19 to 21. The visit was at the invitation of Politburo member of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. A week earlier, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin was in Beijing for talks with Chinese senior security officials. The balance in Serbia’s multi-vector foreign policy was ensured by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who was in Brussels on December 19 for the EU-Western Balkans summit.
Speaking at a regular press conference (16.12.2024) about Djuric’s visit to China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that Serbia is an iron friend of China. “In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Aleksandar Vučić, bilateral relations have realized leapfrog growth and historic achievements. Cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, energy, cultural and people-to-people exchange, and education continues to expand, and bilateral relations have been deepened and upgraded. Through this visit, China stands ready to work with Serbia to consolidate ironclad friendship, strengthen strategic communication, deepen practical cooperation and advance the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era,” said Lin Jian.
The importance of Serbia for China was emphasized by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his speech at the Symposium on the International Situation and China’s Foreign Relations in Beijing, December 17, 2024. “China and Serbia have launched efforts to build a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, the first of its kind in China’s relations with European countries,” said Wang Yi, pointing to just one more country in this connection – Brazil.
At the beginning of his visit to Beijing, Djurić met with Ms. Chen Bo, President of the China Institute of International Studies, which is directly subordinate to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chen is a former Chinese ambassador to Serbia, and before that to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Belgrade highly values her contribution to bilateral relations and considers her “one of its own” in Beijing. In the words of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, “Serbia is her second home”.
In the three-hour talks with Wang Yi, the Serbian Foreign Minister confirmed Serbia’s active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-CEEE mechanism of cooperation (“14 + 1”). Special attention was paid to mutual support on vital issues of national interest, above all, on the principle of respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity, represented a special value in the relations between the two countries. Djuric again thanked China for its principled position on the Kosovo issue and for the support provided in that regard both bilaterally and within international organizations.
Djuric said Serbia regards its relationship with China as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, and deepening cooperation with China has become a cross-party and the whole-society consensus. Wang Yi, for his part, welcomed Serbia to ride the “express train” of China’s development and work together to achieve modernization.
According to assessments by Chinese experts, the visit of the Serbian Foreign Minister has further strengthened bilateral ties and outlined new areas of common interest. Bilateral cooperation in emerging areas such as technology, environmental protection and culture will also give new impetus to the friendship between China and Serbia.
Against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and with the upcoming new US administration, Serbia is striving to maintain its own diplomatic balance. As a result, China has become a focal point in Belgrade’s foreign policy, leading to an increased need for coordination and communication with Beijing. For Serbia, seeking China’s assistance on security issues is crucial in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the fight against the “color revolution.”
President Xi visited Serbia in May this year and was warmly welcomed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his wife Tamara Vučić at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. During the visit, Xi and Vučić signed a joint statement on building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, building on the comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2016. The deal makes Serbia the first European country to build such a community with China.
