27 May 2019

Agriculture in particular is hugely important in further cooperation with China

President of the National Coordination Council for Russia and China Tomislav Nikolić met today in Belgrade CPPCC representatives from the City of Guangzhou, led by Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Guangzhou Committee Yu Jianshe.

Photograph: National Council

“Serbia and China share a boundless cooperation framework. The EU Member States, also having a keen interest in working together with China, follow suit. Once the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement has been signed, our entrepreneurs and citizens have followed up on the top-level political cooperation. Serbia and China started off with infrastructure and transport sectors, branching out to industry. Agriculture in particular is hugely important in further cooperation, especially in Vojvodina, with fertile soil. Investing in food production would be mutually beneficial. Moreover, Serbia has a lot to offer to China in the tourism sector owing to the large number of its health spas in need of modernization funds”, Mr. Nikolić stressed.

Mr. Nikolić called on the Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Guangzhou Committee to approach the National Council with all ideas, initiatives, requests for support, or in the case of a standstill in future cooperation, as the National Council is made up of nine Government Members, Deputy Prime Ministers and Serbian Government Ministers.

“It is common knowledge in China today that Sino-Serbian relations have been traditionally good, friendly and ever-deepening. The main focus of our visit is to learn about the situation in Serbia as much as possible and to identify opportunities for enhancing cooperation. The distance between China and Serbia is not a problem for us, what matters is that Serbia is stable and safe economy-wise. Guangzhou has enjoyed an extraordinary economic growth, and private companies are rising to be on a par with the state-owned ones. We would like our visit to result in a compilation of areas where our private and state-owned companies could find partners for cooperation. We are particularly interested in agricultural cooperation, as enormous quantities of food are grown and consumed in Guangzhou. Serbia boasts a good climate and fertile soil, which is the subject of our great interest, for Guangzhou residents are increasingly inclined to healthy eating habits. We wish to foster further cooperation with Serbia and its people”, Mr. Yu Jianshe underlined.