BEIJING, July 26 (ChinaMil) -- General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC), met with Aleksandar Vulin, defense minister of the Republic of Serbia, in Beijing on the afternoon of July 25. Wei Fenghe, China’s state councilor and defense minister, also held talks with Aleksandar Vulin on the same day.
During the meeting, Vice Chairman General Zhang Youxia said China and Serbia have had friendly relations for a long time. In 2016, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s successful state visit to Serbia, the leaders of the two countries jointly upgraded China-Serbia relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, driving the bilateral relationship to a new historical period.
China has always viewed the bilateral relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is willing to work with Serbia to further consolidate mutual political trust, expand cooperation at all levels and in all fields, and build a community of shared destiny and interests for the benefit of the two peoples, General Zhang Youxia said.
The bilateral military relationship is a key aspect to the two countries. In recent years, China and Serbia have witnessed a positive momentum in the development of military relationship, and exchanges and cooperation have made new progress with the support from both sides. We hope to join efforts with the Serbian side to explore ways to enhance cooperation between the two militaries, and make the bilateral military ties an accelerator for the development of the relationship between the two countries.
Vulin said the Serbian people are sincere friends of the Chinese people. Serbia is committed to developing the Serbia-China comprehensive strategic partnership and looks forward to deepening cooperation in various fields including defense and military affairs and promoting the sustained and sound development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries.
During the talks, General Wei Fenghe said the Chinese and the Serbian people have traditionally enjoyed profound friendship. In recent years, mutual political trust between the two sides has been consolidated, and the comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained a high level of development.
Owning to the Belt and Road Initiative and the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries within the 16+1 platform, multi-field pragmatic cooperation has achieved fruitful results. Wei hoped the two sides to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields through joint efforts.
In recent years, high-level exchanges between the Chinese and Serbian militaries have been frequent, and pragmatic exchanges and cooperation have developed smoothly. The Chinese military is willing to work with the Serbian military to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of states, continuously strengthen strategic cooperation in defense and security, and expand pragmatic cooperation, so as to contribute to deepening the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership, General Wei Fenghe said.
Vulin said that Serbia has attached great importance to Serbia-China relationship, and supported the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Serbian side is willing to further strengthen high-level exchanges with the Chinese military, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in military health care, joint exercise and training, personnel training, and so on, so as to continuously push forward the relationship between the two militaries.
Before the talks, General Wei Fenghe held a welcoming ceremony for Aleksandar Vulin and accompanied him to inspect the guard of honor of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
