The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Maja Gojkovic met today with the Vice-Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Li Bin currently in official visit to Serbia.
Gojkovic and Li spoke about the further development of parliamentary and overall cooperation between Serbia and the People’s Republic of China, opining that this visit is yet another confirmation of the two countries’ readiness to develop comprehensive strategic cooperation and traditional friendship.
Gojkovic stressed that the two countries’ political relations are characterized by a high degree of understanding, trust and mutual support in issues of vital importance, adding that the relations between Serbia and the People’s Republic of China are at an al-time high thanks to the intensive contacts between presidents Aleksandar Vucic and Xi Jinping.
Gojkovic and Li agreed that cooperation between the parliamentary institutions is an important segment of deepening and furthering the comprehensive strategic partnership between Serbia and China. Gojkovic also emphasized the importance of the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Serbian Assembly and the Chinese National People's Congress as well as the Protocol on the establishment of a joint parliamentary commission as the highest form of parliamentary cooperation that has regular, comprehensive meetings.
Li said that the People’s Republic of China will continue to work on deepening this friendship and cooperation, opining that the claim that the two countries share a friendship of steel, grounded in history and tradition, is an accurate description of the relationship between Serbia and China.
Li mentioned the rising cooperation between China and Serbia in the fields of economy and infrastructure and the projects of Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway, Zemun-Borca bridge, highway, Kostolac thermal power plant and Smederevo steel mill.
Li stressed that Serbia plays an active role in the Belt and Road initiative and one of the leading roles in the China-CIES cooperation, which is in both countries interest.
Li said she greatly appreciated the Serbian Assembly’s contribution to the development of overall relations, adding that she was sure the Serbian Parliament would continue to provide a favourable legislative climate conducive to attracting Chinese investment.
Li said that the abolition of visas for Chinese nationals is a good example of the cooperation between the two countries as it boosted the tourist exchange viz. in the last year Serbia was visited by 100,000 Chinese tourists, while before the visa abolition that number was 20,000.
Gojkovic said that the Serbian Assembly is prepared to continue to lend active support to the comprehensive cooperation across the board so as to make the projects agreed by the two presidents and governments a reality.
Gojkovic said that the business and infrastructure cooperation is very important stressing that the construction of Milos the Great highway is yet another lasting testament of the steel friendship between Serbia and China.
Gojkovic and Li also discussed cooperation in the sphere of gender equality and on the multilateral level and the Serbian Assembly Speaker said that Belgrade would be hosting the 141st Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, 13-17 October, which she expected would be attended by a high-tier Chinese delegation.
