Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Cyprus indicates the future direction of cooperation between Serbia and China

Written by Ivona Ladjevac, Deputy Director of the Serbian Institute of International Political Economy

Compiler: Wang Tingting

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent visits to four European countries, including Greece, Serbia, Albania and Italy, send a clear message that China will continue to promote belt and road cooperation despite the current turmoil in international relations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the above four countries, as important countries along the "Belt and Road", also play an important role in promoting the comprehensive development of China-EU relations. In addition, Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit once again confirms China's willingness to strengthen cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the number of visits between high-level officials of governments, it has not affected relations between countries built on mutual respect and genuine friendship. Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Serbia is the best proof of this.

As we all know, Cyprus and China have a "hardcore friendship," and no one can question the indestructible nature of relations between the two countries. As Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, China and Cyprus should jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries, jointly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations, and jointly promote international fairness and justice.

The high degree of political mutual trust and the development of good relations between Serbia and China have become a solid foundation for promoting bilateral cooperation in the economic and other fields. It is particularly important that the two countries consistently support each other's positions on issues of core interest and major concern. I am sure that Chinese people will not forget that in February 2020, serbian foreign minister Ivitsa Dačić visited China, becoming the first foreign minister to visit China since the outbreak of the epidemic in China. This visit also confirmed the saying: Suffering sees the truth. Of course, at the beginning of the outbreak of the epidemic in Serbia and the difficult moment of shortage of medical supplies, China was also the first to lend a helping hand, send medical experts to the Serbian side, and provide great support in terms of technology and materials.

During the visit, both sides said that they would continue to jointly address various challenges, and at the same time determined the direction of future cooperation between the two countries: the two countries will continue to promote cooperation projects under the framework of the "Belt and Road", and will also strengthen cooperation in high-tech fields such as digital economy and artificial intelligence.