China, Serbia pledge to enhance cooperation

BELGRADE - China and Serbia pledged Thursday to enhance cooperation between the two sides.

While meeting respectively with Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic and Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivica Dacic, Zhang Rongming, vice-chairwomen of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said China and Serbia have realized deepening mutual political trust and new achievements in economy and trade since the two countries established their strategic partnership in 2009.

Zhang noted that the co-built Zemun-Borca Bridge and the Kostolac thermoelectric power plant suggest that China and Serbia have made a breakthrough in large cooperative projects, raising bilateral pragmatic cooperation to a new level.

Relations between China and the Middle and Eastern European countries including Serbia, face broad prospects for development and good opportunity, Zhang said.

She said China is willing to make joint efforts with Serbia to actualize common understandings reached by the two countries' leaders.

China is also willing to make full use of the cooperation platform between China and the countries in central and eastern Europe to step up pragmatic cooperation in the fields of infrastructure construction, energy, culture, education and tourism, according to Zhang.

She also pledged to continually enrich the content of China-Serbia strategic partnership.

She said the CPPCC is ready to strengthen exchange and cooperation with its Serbian counterpart so as to boost friendship between the two countries and the two peoples.

Both Stefanovic and Dacic extended a warm welcome to Zhang, adding that the Serbs bear sincere and friendly feelings toward the Chinese.

They also expressed gratitude for Beijing's firm support for their country's position of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Reiterating Serbia's firm commitment to the one-China policy, the officials said the Serbia's parliament and government will make it a foreign policy priority to develop its ties with China.

Serbia, they said, will push forward the friendly bilateral cooperation and communication with China in general and economic and trade cooperation in particular.

They also expressed hope that the country could capitalize on the cooperation platform between China and countries in central and eastern Europe to accelerate its pragmatic cooperation with China, adding new vigor to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Zhang also met Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Serbia's Deputy Parliament Speaker Judita Popovic.

Zhang, heading a Chinese delegation, left Beijing last Wednesday for visits to Moldova, Albania and Serbia.