Xi to land at Belgrade airport for state visit to Serbia

Streets leading from Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport are adorned with large welcome banners, a security detail is on standby, and the press are all geared up for Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Serbia.

Xi's plane will be landing at the airport in the Serbian capital city on Tuesday evening, after the Chinese president wrapped up a state visit to France earlier in the day.

Xi’s state visit to Serbia, at the invitation of President Aleksandar Vucic, is the second leg of his three-nation European tour from May 5 to 10.

He will also pay a state visit to Hungary.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on Saturday in Dushanbe, with both sides pledging to expand bilateral cooperation in various areas.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings and good wishes to Rahmon.

Wang noted that China and Tajikistan, linked by mountains and rivers, have cultivated a profound traditional friendship. The two sides have always respected each other, and treated each other as equals, extended mutual support at critical moments.

In May last year, Rahmon attended the China-Central Asia Summit and paid a state visit to China, during which the two heads of state jointly announced the building of a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit.

This set a clear goal for the development of bilateral relations and sent a positive signal to the two peoples and the world, said Wang.

China will continue to firmly support Tajikistan in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions and firmly oppose external interference in Tajikistan's internal affairs, said Wang, stressing that no matter how the international situation changes, China will always be Tajikistan's trustworthy friend and partner.

For his part, Rahmon asked Wang to convey his sincere greetings to Xi.

He said that during his visit to China last year, he and Xi had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral cooperation and reached a series of consensuses.

With the joint efforts of the two sides, these consensuses are being implemented and important results have been achieved in cooperation in various fields, he said.

Rahmon stressed that promoting relations with China is a priority of Tajikistan's foreign policy. The Tajik side firmly upholds the one-China principle and holds that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

Tajikistan, Rahmon said, hopes to keep close high-level exchanges with China, strengthen cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, energy, minerals, transportation, agriculture, green industry and artificial intelligence, jointly combat the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and constantly expand and strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Tajikistan and China.

The Tajik president noted that China plays an important role in international and regional affairs, and Tajikistan is willing to closely coordinate with China and support each other on multilateral platforms.

Wang said that China firmly supports the four development strategies of energy, transportation, food and industrialization proposed by the Tajik president, attaches importance to Tajikistan's cooperation needs, and is committed to expanding cooperation in emerging industries and helping Tajikistan improve economic development.

China is willing to deepen security cooperation with Tajikistan and resolutely combat all forms of terrorism, said Wang, adding that the two sides can strengthen cooperation in the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the China-Central Asia mechanism, safeguard the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries, and make due contributions to the prosperity and stability of the region and the world at large.

During his visit, Wang also held talks with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin on Sunday.