Roundup: China-Serbia relations lifted to comprehensive strategic partnership

China and Serbia have agreed to upgrade their traditional friendly relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in a bid to further promote political mutual trust, economic and cultural links as well as cooperation in international affairs.

After formal talks Saturday in the Serbian capital, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Serbian counterpart, Tomislav Nikolic, inked a joint statement on the historic move and witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation deals.

Specific actions will be taken to boost bilateral cooperation in industrial capacity, finance, infrastructure construction, trade, energy, telecommunications, science and technology, culture and tourism, according to the statement.

Xi's visit to Belgrade from Friday to Sunday was the first by a Chinese head of state to the Balkan country in 32 years.

Both sides stressed their six-decade, time-tested "all-weather friendship" and "special brotherly bond," vowing to continue support for each others' core interests and join hands in promoting world peace and development.

"China and Serbia are all-weather friends and important cooperation partners. Our two countries enjoy a profound traditional friendship. Our relations have stood the test of time and history and grown even stronger," Xi told Nikolic during Saturday's talks.

"China stands ready to work with Serbia to keep the momentum and push our relations and practical cooperation to a higher level, ushering in a new chapter for our mutually beneficial cooperation and common development," he said in a written statement upon arrival Friday.

Nikolic told Xi during the talks that the Serbian people cherish the sincere friendship with the Chinese people and are glad to see the achievements China has made in economic and social development.

The two leaders also pledged to jointly promote the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, seek synergy between Serbia's national development strategy and the initiative, and align Serbia's development with the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries.

Xi's visit has raised high expectations from Serbians with a focus on new opportunities for development and jobs, as they see prospects for more Chinese investment.

"It is a great opportunity to cooperate with China," said Dusan Janjic, a Serbian political expert with the Forum for Ethnic Relations.

Xi came to Serbia with a big delegation that gathered a significant number of businessmen from both private and state-owned companies, noted Ivona Ladjevic, a researcher with the Institute for International Policy and Economy in Serbia.

Two-way trade grew by 2.3 percent year on year to 550 million U.S. dollars in 2015, according to Chinese customs.

On Saturday, Xi also held separate meetings with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic.

Upon arrival in Belgrade on Friday afternoon, the Chinese president and his wife, Peng Liyuan, paid homage to three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on May 7, 1999.

Serbia is the first stop of Xi's three-nation Eurasia tour. He kicked off a state visit to Poland on Sunday and will also visit Uzbekistan, where he will attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Endi