Vucic receives badminton legend Lin Dan

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received on Thursday in Belgrade the greatest badminton player of all times, Lin Dan of China, noting that he was delighted Lin would be an EXPO 2027 promoter.

"We are very happy to have you here in Belgrade and Serbia today, and we are very happy that we will be promoting EXPO. For us, the EXPO is a great opportunity to present Serbia in the best light. Play and music are the themes of the EXPO and, therefore, thank you for agreeing to promote the EXPO together with us," Vucic told Lin.

He added that Serbia was very proud of its relations with China and that he personally was proud of his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Vucic noted that he had been unaware of Lin's enormous popularity across Asia.

"It is incredible, people from southeast Asia - from Malaysia and Thailand to India - have told me, literally everyone knows everything about you, just like people in China do. The successes you have achieved is truly unbelievable," Vucic said.

He added that he was proud to be able to host the greatest badminton champion of all times.

Presenting a badminton racquet to Vucic as a gift, Lin said he would come to Serbia next year with his son, who he noted was a young tennis player who wanted to meet Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic.