Chinese President Xi Jinping presented Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with a special gift signifying the strong ties between the two countries during his just-concluded state visit to Serbia.
After their talks in Belgrade on Wednesday, Xi gave Vucic steel models in the shape of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade. The steel used for the models was produced by HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant.
Built in 1913, the Smederevo Steel Plant was Serbia's national pride and once contributed 40 percent of the government's revenue. Chinese steel maker HBIS acquired the plant in 2016 to bring the then collapsing plant back to life and provide locals with more jobs, making the plant a symbol of China-Serbia friendship.
"Our two countries are now steel-clad friends with even stronger ties than iron-clad friends," Xi said while presenting the gift.
Xi paid a state visit to Serbia from Tuesday to Wednesday at the invitation of Vucic.
During his trip, Xi held talks with Vucic and signed a joint statement on the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, making Serbia the first European country to build such a community with China.
Serbia was the second leg of Xi's three-nation European tour from May 5 to 10, which also included France and Hungary.
Xi presents Serbian president with special gift signifying strong ties
Xi presents Serbian president with special gift signifying strong ties
Xi presents Serbian president with special gift signifying strong ties
As a city famous for its ice and snow tourism, Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has a rich history of cultural exchanges between China and neighboring Russia.
The Saint Sophia Cathedral, a century-old Russian building and a famous Harbin landmark, is a symbol of the long history of exchanges and welcomes visitors from home and overseas. "This city is beautiful. Our first stop was to visit this Russian church. Putin has just visited China, which means China-Russia relations will get better and cooperation broader," said Ma Li, a tourist from central China's Wuhan City. "There are so many architecture details which are connected with Russia, for example, this church. I'm impressed," said Natalia Obukhov, a professor from Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University. "I'm here for the first time and I'm really impressed by history, by new buildings, by everything I see here," said Adnan Mujezinovic, a professor from University of Sarajevo. The squares, buildings, and galleries surrounding the church also showcase Russian-style architecture. In a gallery which displays a captivating collection of Russian paintings, matryoshka dolls, and various souvenirs, Manager Chen Limei provided insightful guidance on identifying high-quality dolls. "The well painted ones have collection value. This one has a storyline. You can see the details are well drawn, the patterns are layered, the color changes are gradual, not solid, and there is the artist's signature at the bottom," Chen said. Chen proudly introduced this gallery, which contains many paintings drawn by famous artists. She said it's not just a souvenir shop, but a corner of Harbin that promotes art.
Since China and Russia resumed visa-free group travel in August last year, Russia's Economic Development Ministry expected the flow of tourists between the two countries to reach pre-epidemic levels in 2025.
Earlier this month, the five-day 8th China-Russia Expo opened in Harbin, which is expected to play a role in enhancing trade and investment between the two countries.
Harbin serves as symbol of shared history between China, Russia
