First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic received today in a farewell visit Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Serbia Li Manchang, who is ending his tour of duty in our country.

Minister Dacic thanked Ambassador Li Manchang, who has outstanding knowledge of the region and Serbia in particular and whose great friend he is, for the excellent cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia in the past four years and for his huge personal contribution to further promotion of comprehensive strategic partnership between the Republic of Serbia and PR of China. It was noted that during Ambassador Li's term the highest and high political dialogue has been stepped up and that the relations between the two countries can be qualified as the best in their history.

Our side reiterated its gratitude for the continued support of the People's Republic of China to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia. At the same time, Serbia's consistent support to the "One China" policy has been emphasized as well for which the Chinese Ambassador expressed special thanks.

The Serbian Foreign Minister noted with pleasure that during Ambassador Li's term of office economic relations between Serbia and China have been significantly promoted particularly in the field of infrastructure and investment. He pointed out that Serbia and especially its President Aleksandar Vucic personally attached great significance to cooperation within the "Belt and Road" initiative launched by President of the PR of China Xi Jinping as well as to cooperation mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries.

Ambassador Li expressed appreciation for the extraordinary cooperation that he has had with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and for personal assistance and support of Minister Dacic whom he considered a great friend. He emphasized that the relations between China and Serbia have been particularly promoted during Ivica Dacic's premiership as well as during his tenure as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. He concurred with the assessments on the state of affairs and perspectives of bilateral relations between PR of China and Serbia and underlined that although he was leaving his post as Ambassador he would continue his personal engagement aimed at further development of comprehensive strategic China-Serbia partnership, which he holds in special regard. He indicated that the Chinese side attaches great importance to President Vucic's forthcoming visit to China in April 2019 as well as to President Xi Jingping's next visit to Serbia.





At the end of the meeting, Ambassador Li handed New Year greeting cards to Minister Dacic sent by a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PR of China Wang Yi.