China-Serbia friendship is 'on the right side of history': Chinese FM

BELGRADE - Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hailed China-Serbia friendship here Thursday, saying that to maintain and further such friendship is "to stand on the right side of history".

Wang made the remark at a joint press conference after his meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Vucic said the two sides have held in-depth discussions on consolidating friendship and intensifying mutually beneficial cooperation, and reached extensive consensus.

Serbia-China cooperation has been fruitful in recent years, he said, citing that the two-way trade volume has tripled in five years thanks to their high-level mutual political trust and the extraordinary "iron-clad friendship".

The president expressed thanks to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and the Chinese government for their consistent support for Serbia.

He said the Serbian side fully agrees to China's proposal on expanding bilateral cooperation in the field of innovation, and trusts that with China's support, his country will usher in a new stage of development and advance with the times.

Wang hailed the special bond between the Chinese people and Serbia, saying that the 1.4 billion Chinese people regard Serbia as an "iron-clad friend" at the other end of Eurasia.

Wang praised Vucic as an outstanding leader known by the 1.4 billion Chinese people, who firmly safeguards national sovereignty and dignity and unswervingly pursues a friendly policy towards China.

Serbia is a country that sticks to principles and the Serbians are a nation of moral integrity and value friendship. The Chinese people are proud to have such a good and faithful friend, said Wang.

Guided by the strategies mapped by their presidents, China-Serbia relations have endured the test of time and are full of vitality, and their friendship is unshakable and solid as rock, said Wang.

He thanked the Serbian side for its consistent support for China's legitimate stance on issues related to China's core interests and major concerns, saying China is ready to stand together with Serbia in its efforts for safeguarding sovereignty, independence and national dignity.

The China-Serbia concrete cooperation has yielded fruits and truly benefited the two peoples, said Wang, who sees an even greater outlook of such cooperation.

While safeguarding their respective legitimate rights and interests, the two countries are also safeguarding the basic norms governing international relations and maintaining fairness and justice of the world, said Wang, shrugging off irresponsible remarks made by certain forces on China-Serbia friendship.

"To maintain and further our friendship is in line with the trend of times and is to stand on the right side of history," he said, expressing confidence in the future of bilateral relations.

Serbia is the second leg of Wang's Europe tour which started from Greece on Wednesday.