Xi: Serbia our ironclad friend, we support its sovereignty, territorial integrity

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping said after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Serbia was "an ironclad friend" of China and that bilateral relations between the two countries had withstood changes in the international landscape over recent years and were an exemplar of friendly relations between China and European states.

Xi noted that China firmly supported Serbia in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity and stood ready to continue to strengthen strategic synergy with Serbia in order to translate the traditional friendship between the two countries into more fruits of practical cooperation, China's CCTV said, quoting a Xinhua news report.

"Bilateral cooperation in areas such as infrastructure and production capacity has yielded fruitful results, and the depth, breadth, quality and efficiency of practical cooperation have been continuously improving.

Facing profound changes in the world unseen in a century, the two sides should view the bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, as well as each other's development paths," Xi said.