Nikolic arrives in China, set to attend military parade

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has arrived in China for a state visit.

Nikolic arrives in China, set to attend military parade

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has arrived in China for a state visit.

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During his visit to the People's Republic of China, President Nikolic will meet with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

The president was welcomed at the airport in Beijing by a Chinese government official, the release states.

On the first day of his visit. Nikolic met with Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach) and Zhang Chun, president of China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC).

A memorandum was signed on this occasion to open a meat production facility in Kragujevac, central Serbia.

"Serbia and China have very good bilateral relations that can be improved significantly by strengthening their economic cooperation," said Nikolic, according to a statement from his office, which added:

"China has so far invested in infrastructure projects in Serbia, and I insisted on investments in production. There are more reasons for this - besides the promotion of economic cooperation, investing in production is a reason for our Chinese friends to stay in Serbia permanently, which would not be the case with investments in infrastructure."

He added that the signing of a memorandum of understanding between CMEC and the city of Kragujevac was "a big step forward in the promotion of economic cooperation between the two countries."

Sinomach Chairman Ren Hongbin "thanked the Serbian president for his support."

"China is successfully carrying out all its projects in Serbia, the largest one being the thermal power plant in Kostolac, and we are very happy with the results," said Ren

Also on Sunday, Nikolic met with Chairman of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) Wen Gang, and "expressed his gratitude for the fast and efficient completion of works on the Zemun-Borca bridge in Belgrade."

According to the Serbian president's media relations office, Nikolic "thanked the CRBC for its donation to the Dragica Nikoli Foundation, in the form of auxiliary facilities used during the bridge construction."

Nikolic noted that those facilities will be presented to the Serbian Interior Ministry as a gift.

The president voiced his expectation that the project of building the Belgrade-Budapest railway line will be launched as soon as possible.

Wen Gang said that Nikolic's arrival to China for the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism, which will take place in Beijing, "shows the deep and sincere friendship of Serbia and China."