From February 18 to 21, 2025, at the invitation of the parliamentary friendship group with China of the Serbian National Assembly, Yang Wanming, President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), led a delegation to Serbia. He met with Tomislav Nikoli?, President of the National Council for Coordination of Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China and former President of Serbia, Ana Brnabi?, Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Marina Ragus, Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Head of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with China, and Nikola Stojanovic, State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They had an in-depth exchange of views and reached positive consensus on further deepening China-Serbia civil friendship, increasing exchanges among legislatures, localities, and young people, and building a high-quality China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era. Li Ming, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, attended relevant events.
(Yang Wanming meets with Tomislav Nikoli?, President of the National Council for Coordination of Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China and former President of Serbia.)
Yang Wanming remarked that China and Serbia are iron-clad friends sharing weal and woe. The traditional friendship between the two countries was formed in the common opposition to power politics and bullying practices, tempered in the struggle to defend independence and sovereignty, and carried forward in mutually beneficial cooperation and common development. In May last year, President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to Serbia. The two heads of state made a major decision to build a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, opening a new chapter in China-Serbia relations. The CPAFFC is ready to work with Serbia to earnestly implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, safeguard and develop the traditional friendship between China and Serbia and actively build platforms for friendly exchanges. Meanwhile, continued efforts will be made to deepen and substantiate bilateral practical cooperation on the basis of the existing 17 pairs of sister cities established between China and Serbia. It will also work for fruitful outcomes in bilateral relations under such frameworks as the Belt and Road Initiative and China-CEEC cooperation. These efforts will help add new dimensions to the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era.
(Yang Wanming meets with Ana Brnabi?, Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly.)
(Yang Wanming meets with Marina Ragus, Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Head of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with China.)
(Yang Wanming meets with Nikola Stojanovic, State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.)
During the meeting with Serbian representatives from various sectors, they expressed that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, Serbia-China relations have achieved leapfrog development and have been kept at a high level. The profound friendship between the peoples of Serbia and China is rooted in shared values and long-term friendly cooperation. No matter how the international landscape may evolve, the two countries have steadfastly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests such as sovereignty and territorial integrity. Serbia is honored to be the first European country to build a community with a shared future with China. They expressed the hope that the Serbia-China Free Trade Agreement could further unleash the potential for trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, helping elevate and upgrade bilateral economic and trade collaboration. People from all sectors in Serbia are willing to work with the CPAFFC to deepen exchanges and cooperation in culture and among subnational entities and young people between the two countries, so as to deliver benefits to the two peoples and build a better world through the iron-clad friendship between Serbia and China.
(Delegation members paid tribute to the Chinese martyrs who lost their lives in the bombing of the former Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.)
During their stay in Serbia, the delegation paid tribute at the site of the bombed Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, laying flowers in honor of the Chinese martyrs who lost their lives in the attack.
Zhang Yangbin, Deputy Secretary-General of the CPAFFC, accompanied Yang during the visit.
