The General Assembly of the Alliance of National and International Science Organizations for the Belt and Road Regions (ANSO) and the 7th Meeting of the Pan-Balkan Alliance of Natural Products and Drug Discovery (PANDA) opened in Belgrade on October 20. Zoran Knežević, President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, He Hongping, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Li Ming, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, addressed the opening ceremony.

Ambassador Li said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the building of the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era has got off to a good start, with fruitful outcomes in scientific and technological cooperation. The China-Serbia Joint Laboratory on Natural Products and Drug Discovery under the Belt and Road Initiative, he noted, has set a fine example, and the parties have jointly established the PANDA alliance on its basis, creating an important platform for regional research cooperation. Li expressed the hope that researchers will use the meeting to deepen exchanges and expand cooperation, pooling greater strength for Belt and Road scientific and technological innovation and producing more results.