On 26 February, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dačić.

Wang Yi pointed out that the world today is facing changes unprecedented in a century and China-Serbia relations are at a new historical starting point. Both sides should trust and support each other, expand areas for cooperation and substantiate and deepen cooperation to jointly take the bilateral relations to a new stage.

Wang Yi said that China and Serbia are good brothers cherishing the same ideals and sharing weal and woe. The high-level political trust is a prominent feature and a valuable asset of our relations that needs to be valued and preserved with greater efforts. No matter how the international situation may evolve, the two sides will continue to understand and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, support each other in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity and in exploring development paths that suit our respective national conditions.

Wang Yi noted China and Serbia are good partners in Belt and Road cooperation. Serbia is one of the first Central and Eastern European countries that signed a memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road cooperation and cooperation plans with China. China is ready to deepen all-round cooperation with Serbia, translate the strength of our mutual trust into greater boost for Belt and Road cooperation and into concrete outcomes of practical cooperation so as to deliver more benefit to the two peoples.

Wang Yi said that China and Serbia are good friends in advancing China-Europe cooperation. Serbia is leading among Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC) in terms of the amount and scale of large-scale cooperation projects with China. Flagship projects like the Hungary-Serbia Railway are of great significance for building the China-Europe Land-Sea Transport Route and boosting China-Europe connectivity. China and Serbia will continue to promote China-CEEC cooperation and support the deepening and growth of China-Europe relations.

Wang Yi said China and Serbia are good comrades in building a community of shared future for mankind. All peoples, including the Chinese and Serbians, have the right to pursue a better life and the responsibility to safeguard the very planet that we live on. We should uphold the ideal of open and inclusive multilateralism, safeguard the international system with the UN as its core and the international order based on international law, support the multilateral trading regime with the WTO as its cornerstone and oppose any forms of bullying and hegemony. China and Serbia will work together to build a community with a shared future, and one for mankind together with other members of the international community.

Noting that the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has been progressing at a high level, Ivica Dačić said that Serbia and China enjoy unbreakable iron friendship and the Serbian people always regard the Chinese people as real brothers. He mentioned that President Aleksandar Vucic looks forward to attending the China-CEEC Leaders' Summit in Beijing. COVID-19 has not affected bilateral pragmatic cooperation in all fields as progress has been made as planned in various projects. Railway and highway infrastructure projects like the Hungary-Serbia Railway are well under way. Serbia has firmly upheld the "One China" principle and supported China when it comes to issues related to China's core interests and major concerns such as Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong issues.