Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic recently extended their sincere congratulations to the People's Republic of China on its 75th anniversary of founding, hailing China's significant contributions to the world and the mankind over the past 75 years.
In an interview with the China Media Group (CMG), the two officials spoke highly of the progress China has made in its socioeconomic development, which, they noted, has impressed them a lot.
"Over the past 75 years, China's development and various efforts have not only left a profound mark on Chinese society, but also made remarkable contributions to the world and the mankind. China has successfully eliminated absolute poverty, achieved rapid economic development, and made rapid progress in science and technology. It has also been deeply involved in global governance. China never targets any party, and is always committed to all-round multilateral international cooperation," said Vucevic.
"I sincerely congratulate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Let me begin by saying that what the People's Republic of China has achieved over the past few decades is indeed impressive. I believe that China owes its achievements to the careful and thorough thinking of the leadership, wise strategic planning, trust in the people and great political courage," said Brnabic.
Cooperation between Serbia and China has brought valuable development opportunities to the landlocked country at the crossroads of Southeast and Central Europe, the Serbian officials said.
"Among European countries, Serbia has always been a strong supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative, because we are fully aware that this cooperation has and will bring many benefits to our country, and not just to our country," said the prime minister.
Brnabic highlighted that China's national development has not only benefited its own people, but also the rest of the world through initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative.
"China has shown the world how to achieve scientific and technological progress and infrastructure development in a smart way, and how to make national development benefit its own people and benefit the rest of the world through initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative," she said.
China's development benefits world, mankind: senior Serbian officials
An Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission announced in Luxor on Saturday that they have uncovered an ancient "sacred lake" at the Montu Temple precinct in the Karnak Temple Complex in the city renowned for its rich monuments in southern Egypt.
The newly uncovered sacred lake, within the Montu Temple enclosure, lies west of the Maat Temple, dedicated to Maat, the ancient Egyptian goddess of harmony, justice, and truth.
Covering an area of more than 50 square meters, the lake is an ancient man-made water reservoir with a well-defined structure and is well-preserved. The lake has not been recorded in early archaeological archives, according to the joint mission archeologists.
Together with the previously known sacred lake of the Montu Temple, the discovery forms a unique layout of two sacred lakes aligned north and south within the Karnak enclosure walls, said Jia Xiaobing, the Chinese head of the project.
"The new finding fills a gap in Egyptology and Egyptian archaeological history. It is not only the discovery of a second sacred lake, but also the only sacred lake uncovered through systematic and scientific excavation in the history of Egyptian archaeology," Jia said.
Sacred lakes were an essential component of ancient Egyptian temple architecture and were regarded as holy sources of water, distinct from domestic water supplies and reserved exclusively for ritual use within temples, he explained.
Hend Aly, a senior inspector at the Montu Temple and an Egyptian member of the project, said the discovery "is something rare that crowned the hard work of the joint mission for eight years."
Archaeologists also unearthed dozens of cow jaw remains and reused stone blocks associated with kings and the divine adoratrice from the Late Period (747-332 BC) in this area.
Beyond the sacred lake, excavations in the Osirian chapel area uncovered three chapels dedicated to the god Osiris, Jia said, adding that archaeologists also recovered dozens of Osiris statuettes of varying sizes and materials, along with fragments linked to the divine adoratrice.
The Divine Adoratrice of Amun (also called God's Wife of Amun) was a priestess title in ancient Egypt, held primarily by royal women like pharaohs' daughters, who served as the symbolic wife and chief ritual attendant of the god Amun at Thebes.
This discovery provides new archaeological evidence for further reconstructing the history of Thebes under the rule of the divine adoratrice of the 25th and 26th Dynasties, according to Jia.
The Montu Temple site is located in the northern part of Luxor, covering approximately 106,000 square meters, of which about 24,000 square meters lie within the enclosure walls of the temple precinct. To date, the joint mission has excavated a total area of about 2,300 square meters.
Since 2018, the first Egyptian-Chinese joint archaeological mission formed by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has been officially conducting archaeological excavations and research at the Montu Temple.
The project has also received support from the Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Institute of World History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Mohamed Abdel-Badie, head of the Egyptian antiquities sector, and also the Egyptian head of the project, said the discovery marks an important dialogue between two ancient civilizations.
"The archaeological cooperation between China and Egypt is a collaboration between two ancient civilizations, conveying a message of dialogue, history and civilizations. I believe that the mutual understanding between peoples of the two countries is reflected in numerous cultural activities, benefiting Egypt, China, and the world," he said.
Egyptian-Chinese archaeologists uncover ancient 'sacred lake'
