Brnabic: Xi's visit additional impetus to relations with China

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic told Tanjug on Thursday Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia was an additional impetus to advancement of Serbia-China relations.

Brnabic said the welcome for Xi had been "impressive" and that the visit had been marked by his friendly discussions with Aleksandar Vucic that reflected the mutual respect and trust between the two presidents.

"A mutual understanding was created, which is a guarantee of a shared future," Brnabic noted.

She said the important topics of the discussions included a joint commission on advanced technologies as well as biotech, artificial intelligence and a potential investment in a train and rail car factory in Serbia as "the whole world is getting back to railways."

"It really seems to me that, in every sense, this visit is really an additional impetus to building our relations with the People's Republic of China, on three pillars - politically, economically and technologically," Brnabic noted.

She said China was a global political, economic and technological superpower that respected other countries, their sovereignty and their right to independent decision-making.

"Many superpowers do not do that. Unfortunately, there is a trend where those who are politically and economically dominant want to impose their system of decision-making and their way of life on others. They do not respect their sovereignty to make decisions. The People's Republic of China is different in that sense and I think that is a good legacy for the future," Brnabic said.

She noted that China was a rising global superpower that respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia.

Brnabic said China had been the single largest foreign investor in Serbia in the past three years and added that she believed Chinese investors and companies would become even more present in Serbia in the wake of Xi's visit.