Serbian president looks forward to production of jointly made China-Serbia robots

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday he looks forward to seeing the production of robots jointly made by China and Serbia in the near future as the two countries enter a new stage of cooperation in high-tech and innovation.

Vucic paid a state visit to China from May 24 to 28 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As planned, the Serbian President on Wednesday visited a factory operated by Minth Group, a major automotive parts supplier that is scaling up its investment in Serbia. The visit supported official discussions on cooperation in robot production between China and Serbia.

In an interview in Beijing with China Media Group ahead of the factory tour, Vucic expressed strong interest in the joint project, which will see robots being produced in his country.

"We go tomorrow to visit the factory, and they built a big factory in the western part of Serbia that I was amazed with. In Serbia, we see a big hole 1,000 square meters, up to 5,000 square meters. That's it. But when I went there for the first time, I needed car, you know, to see all the holes and everything else. And I didn't believe that it was happening in Serbia. But anyway, then I said, 'now you have a joint venture, you have a JV with someone else you produce these humanoid robots, robot dogs and everything else.' (They said) 'Yes, I do.' Can you move it, and can you do it in Sabac, which is a place 50 kilometers away from the first one? I said maybe we can do it. We can do it relatively fast. And I believe that we can start at assembling it and then producing it within two months, not more than that, in Serbia," said Vucic.

"And this is a new phase. This is something totally new for us. And I'm profoundly grateful to President Xi that he allowed it and very grateful to the people of that company," the president said.

China hopes Colombia's peace process will continue to make new progress, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Sun Lei, said Monday at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Colombia.

Sun highlighted the headway made over the past decade and called for unified national efforts moving forward.

"A decade ago, the signing of the final peace agreement brought an end to Colombia's more than half-a-century-long civil war, setting an example of resolving conflicts through dialogue. Thanks to the joint efforts of successive Colombian governments, various sectors of society and the international community, positive progress has been made in implementing the peace agreement," Sun said.

"China hopes that the new Colombian government will prioritize the country's long-term development and the fundamental interests of its people, unite all parties, and continue to advance toward the goal of achieving comprehensive and lasting peace," he said.