China sees great economic cooperation potential in Serbia

President Nikolic said that the two nations had formed deep and unbreakable ties and Serbia was very grateful for the economic support coming from China, the president's press office said in a release.

“Serbia has a very favorable geographic position, an excellent, professional and educated workforce and numerous markets where it can sell goods free of customs duties,” the Serbian president said, adding that the two countries could jointly export industrial and agricultural products to the markets in third countries.

Foto: Tanjug/Miloš Jelesijević

The Serbian president voiced belief that the Chinese delegation would be satisfied with the projects in the areas of infrastructure, public-private partnerships and greenfield investments, prepared by the Belgrade city officials, that had been presented to them today.

Qin Boyong, assistant governor of the Hebei province, who was at the head of the delegation from China, agreed with Nikolic that the friendship between Serbia and China was sincere and deep and that it had overcome all temptations and obstacles.

Qin stressed that Hebei was following the guidelines set out by China's leadership for developing cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe, particularly with Serbia.

- We see great potential for deepening economic cooperation, especially at the local government level and your proposal to jointly export to third countries is excellent - she said.

The Hebei province assistant governor thanked the Serbian president for the welcome the delelgation had received and asked him to personally support projects where the two countries have a shared interest.

BELGRADE, HEBEI PROVINCE DELEGATIONS ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Delegations from Belgrade and the Chinese province of Hebei discussed strengthening economic cooperation and concrete projects of significance for the City of Belgrade on Friday, and Belgrade said that Serbia’s capital city was readily welcoming investors.

Belgrade City Assembly President Nikola Nikodijevic told reporters after the meeting that the Chinese delegation had been shown Belgrade’s potentials and projects and had been offered cooperation.

Belgrade is open to all who want to invest in it, and the city has been pursuing a “turbulent” international cooperation and diplomatic policy over the last two years, which is in line with its plans of being Europe’s fastest developing city over the next ten years, Nikodijevic said.

Speaking about successful cooperation between Serbia and China, particularly after the summit of leaders from China and Central and Eastern Europe that was held in Belgrade in December, Nikodijevic announced the participation of Serbia at the summit of local governments in the Hebei province in 2016.

"At the initiative of Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, we were officially invited to the summit today and they will bear all the costs and expenses of the presentation of our economy, which is a great opportunity for Belgrade to start doing business in a third market,” said Nikodijevic.

He pointed out that the Hebei province, which has a population of about 73 million, has an annual GDP exceeding the equivalent of EUR 460 billion and exports amounting to the equivalent of EUR 60 billion, which, he said, were figures Serbia could not even imagine.

Assistant Mayor of Belgrade Borko Milosavljevic said that the guests from China had been presented concrete projects, especially in the field of public-private partnerships and green-field investments, and those concerning privatizations.

The Chinese delegation, he added, had been shown projects in the areas of energy, transportation and utility infrastructure, and also the Belgrade Waterfront project, which had attracted much attention of Chinese investors.

Assitant Governor of the Hebei province Qin Boyong expressed satisfaction about the Chinese delegation visiting Belgrade with the aim of establishing economic cooperation between the province and the capital of Serbia.

Hebei is working towards strengthening cooperation with the world, and Serbia occupies a very important place here, she said.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang said that the Chinese government was providing great support for cooperation between the two countries.

(Telegraf.rs / Tanjug)