Serbian PM begins visit to China on Monday

Serbian PM begins visit to China on Monday

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will on Monday begin his official visit to China, at the invitation of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

During the visit Vucic will take part in the fourth China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) summit.

According to spokesman for the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs Hong Lei, Vucic will be in China from November 23 to 28, and the summit will take place in the city of Suzhou from November 24 to 25.

Vucic will start the visit attending the 5th China-CEEC Economic and Trade Forum in the city of Suzhou, during which he will hold meetings with prime ministers of the participating countries.

On the second day of the visit, Vucic is scheduled to attend a ceremony of signing a framework agreement on modernization and reconstruction of the Hungarian-Serbian rail line in the territory of Serbia.

On November 26, Serbian PM will confer with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

The Chinese PM paid a bilateral visit to Belgrade in December 2014, during which he also took part in the third China-CEEC summit. This was the first visit to Serbia by a Chinese prime minister in 28 years.

For quite a while, China has been Serbia's most important trading and financial partner in Asia, according to Tanjug, which added that Beijing does not recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, and was against Kosovo's UNESCO membership in the recent vote.