Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife arrive in Serbia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife, Tamara Vucic, welcomed Xi Jinping at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday to pay a state visit to Serbia. Serbian Air Force sent two fighter jets to escort Xi's aircraft after it entered Serbia's airspace, Xinhua reported. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his wife, Tamara Vucic, welcomed Xi Jinping at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Children welcomed Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan by presenting them with flowers and waving the national flags of China and Serbia. Xi arrived in Serbia after concluding his visit to France.

In a written statement after arriving in Serbia, Xi stated, "China and Serbia enjoy profound traditional friendship. Our bilateral relationship has stood the test of changing international environment and become a fine example of state-to-state relations," Xinhua reported. Xi said he looks forward to taking this visit as an opportunity to hold talks with Aleksandar Vuvic on bilateral ties and other issues of mutual interest, renewing friendship, planning for cooperation, exploring development, and creating a new blueprint for the development of bilateral relations.

He said, "I am confident that this visit will be a fruitful one and will open up a new chapter in China-Serbia relations." Xi said, "It gives me great pleasure to pay a state visit to the Republic of Serbia at the warm invitation of President Vucic." He further said, "On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I would like to extend heartfelt greetings and best wishes to the friendly government and people of Serbia," he added.

Xi noted that the ties between the two nations have witnessed leapfrog development and achieved historic results since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, according to Xinhua report. He said that China and Serbia have given each other firm support on issues related to their respective core interests and major concerns, He further said, "We have jointly upheld international fairness and justice, and contributed our share to promoting world peace and development."

Before arriving in Serbia, Xi Jinping was on a two-day visit to France. During his visit, he held talks with his French counterpart at Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday as the two countries marked 60 years of diplomatic relations. At a press conference, the two leaders called for "a truce" in Ukraine and other global conflicts during the Paris Olympic Games. Xi and Macron also discussed China's ongoing support for Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.

Macron welcomed Chinese "commitments" to "abstain from selling any weapons" to Russia and "closely control the export of dual-usage equipment," saying that such statements were "reassuring," Politico reported. Xi quoted by Xinhua, warned against "smearing" China over Ukraine and called on all parties to resume engagement and dialogue to build mutual trust. The Chinese President said that China and France should uphold independence and jointly prevent a "new Cold War" or bloc confrontation.

A 10-point statement was released by the Elysee on the declaration between France and China on the situation in West Asia. This came just after Hamas officials gave their nod for a ceasefire deal for Gaza put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. In the statement, Macron and Xi "expressed their opposition to an Israeli offensive on Rafah, which would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe on a new scale".

The two heads of state stressed that an immediate and lasting ceasefire is urgently needed to allow the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip and called for "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" and the guarantee of humanitarian access to meet their medical and other humanitarian needs as well as respect for international law with respect to all those detained. They also reiterated their commitment to promoting a political and diplomatic settlement on the Iranian nuclear issue. The Chinese leader held three-way talks with Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)