Ambassador Stefanović: Relations between Serbia and China are the best ever
"I am particularly pleased to give my first interview as Serbian ambassador to the People's Republic of China for the Chinese Media Group, especially bearing in mind that the Serbian Dept. of China Radio International has been reporting on Serbia-China relations for decades and has a long tradition of promoting the Serbian language." The Embassy of Serbia in China has always had an extraordinary cooperation with this media - one of the most important in China." - Ambassador Stefanović pointed out.
"As for the Belt and Road Initiative itself, Serbia fully supports it and actively partakes in the mechanisms of cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Serbia ranks highest in terms of the number of projects in the areas of infrastructure, transport and energy. We expect new projects next year. The most important thing for Serbia is the introduction of direct flights between Belgrade and Beijing or Shanghai, which we hope will soon be a reality. I believe that there will be many new projects in the field of environmental protection, as well as culture and education. The possibilities are really enormous." - Ambassador Stefanović said.
Ambassador Stefanović said that during her mandate in Beijing, she will focus on maintaining the upward trend of the relations between Serbia and China, and singled out the intensification of political dialogue at the highest level as the most important task which represents the basis for improving all other forms of cooperation.
"One of the main tasks will be the organization of the visit of President Xi Jinping to Serbia, at the invitation of President A. Vučić. Furthermore, we will strive to organize visits at other levels. Economic cooperation is an important segment of collaboration and thereby the focus will be on concluding, as soon as possible, the Free Trade Agreement which was arranged during the recent visit of President Vučić to China. We are also interested in expanding trade and the structure of our exports to China, which will be very important for our companies. An important segment of future activities concerns the development of cultural and educational cooperation which will make Serbia much more visible and recognizable in China, and that will contribute to a better connection between the peoples of the two countries." - Ambassador Stefanović stressed.
She pointed out that being appointed ambassador to Beijing is an outstanding honour, as well as a great responsibility.
"I have been dealing with China throughout my career. As you have mentioned I've studied Chinese, and I have been dealing with bilateral relations with China for more than two decades at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also, I have already served at the Serbian Embassy in Beijing. For me, the office of Serbian ambassador to the People's Republic of China represents the greatest possible honour and trust, and especially a huge responsibility, bearing in mind that the relations between Serbia and China are at their highest level in history since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1955.
The very good and friendly relations between the Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, and the President of China Xi Jinping, have given a special quality to these relations in recent years." Ambassador Stefanović pointed out.
Madam Stefanović also noted that China's progress in the last 100 years is impressive, and she especially singled out the eradication of absolute poverty.
"In recent years, I have been most impressed by China's success in fighting the pandemic, both domestically and abroad - manifested by shipments of medical equipment, humanitarian aid and vaccines to other countries, including Serbia. Last year, China marked the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party and it is truly impressive that China has become the world's second largest economic power and one of the world's most important economic stakeholders over a period of just one century. China has also managed to achieve its centennial goal - to become a moderately prosperous society and now strives to achieve its second centennial goal - the development of a modern socialist state, which is set for 2049. China has managed to eradicate absolute poverty within its borders - which is a great feat, and last year it achieved a gross domestic product growth of 8.1 percent in spite of the ongoing pandemic." - Ambassador Stefanović said.
Madam Stefanović also noted that she expects further success and economic development of China, despite the negative consequences of the COVID 19 epidemic.
"There are indications that China will achieve the planned GDP growth of 5.5 percent this year, along with the planned creation of more than 11 million new jobs. This is a big task and an outstanding plan despite the negative effects of COVID 19 and, unfortunately, the increasingly tangible economic crisis due to the events in Eastern Europe. China has successfully launched the 14th Five-Year Plan, which entails comprehensive economic and social reforms, and I am confident that China will succeed in achieving all these goals." - Madam Stefanović observed.
She noted that at the annual meetings of the Chinese People's Congress and of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, she found particularly interesting the sessions dealing with the foreign policy and the national security of China.
"I followed with particular attention the guidelines concerning China's foreign policy. The emphasis on the policy of peaceful development is extremely important, as well as the continued efforts to articulate President Xi Jinping's idea of evolving mankind as a community with a common future. What caught my attention besides foreign policy issues, was the information concerning the strengthening China's national security - a resolute direction in terms of further continuing the One China policy and the one country-two systems principle." - Ambassador Stefanović concluded.
Source: CRI online