Vucic: We are making history today, Xi's visit historic

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday Chinese President Xi Jinping was a great friend of Serbia and that his visit to Belgrade was historic.

Standing beside Xi on the northern balcony of the Palace of Serbia, Vucic was addressing dozens of thousands of people who had gathered outside the building to greet the two presidents.

"Thank you for coming in such a large number to greet our great friend, the steely friend of Serbia, Xi Jinping. I told him that, as the leader of a big power, he would be met with respect everywhere but that there would be no match anywhere for the love and respect he would be met with in our Serbia," he said.

"We are making history today, even though, to many, it does not look like that. In just a few years' time, we will all be remembering this day and the fact that we were making history today," Vucic said.

He said a FTA with China would bring economic security to Serbian farmers and that exports of Serbian beef to China were to begin soon, with apple, plum, blueberry, rakia and wine exports to be fully liberalised from July 1.

Vucic said that, just like Serbia had clear and simple positions regarding the territorial integrity of China, Beijing, too, provided unreserved support to the territorial integrity of Serbia.

"Just like we say that Taiwan is China and that the UN Charter says so, they, too, support our sovereignty and stand with us in all the most difficult moments. Do not forget that they were also with us 25 years ago, when Serbia was bombed, and they paid a price for that. They lost people just a few hundred meters from here," Vucic said.

He thanked Xi for his support for the Smederevo steel mill, the Bor mining and smelting plant and other Chinese investments in Serbia.