President  Xi Jinping arrives in Belgrade for a state visit to Serbia at the  invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, May 7, 2024.  [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Belgrade, capital of Serbia,  on Tuesday night for a state visit to the Republic of Serbia on the  second leg of his European trip.

Unlike his first stop in France, where he discussed some of the  thorniest issues affecting China's relations with not only France but  also the European Union, the Chinese leader will have had easier  discussions in the Balkan country, whose friendly relations with China  have remained steadfast.

If his meetings in France with President Emmanuel Macron and European  Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were about improving ties and  deepening mutual understanding, those with his Serbian hosts will have  been on ways to carry forward and strengthen the amity and close  cooperation between the two countries.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has been a staunch supporter of  friendly ties with China despite the geopolitical headwinds across  Europe. He has defied the recent European tendency to target China as a  "systemic rival" and offered his support for Beijing's proposals against  major-power competition and for peace and cooperation.

With long-standing cordiality dating back to the era of socialist  Yugoslavia, the friendship between China and present-day Serbia has  stood the test of dramatic geopolitical changes. The Chinese leader's  visit will only cement and upgrade what has already been in his own  words an example of fine state-to-state relations, making the friendship  between the two countries even more dynamic.

The relationship between the two countries carries very special  significance today as both countries seek to carry forward their  traditional friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation amid the  increasing global volatility.

In addition to expanding their common interests in economic and trade  cooperation, the two countries have also sought and found broad common  ground on regional and global affairs.

The importance the Chinese leader attaches to the bilateral  relationship is obvious in the title of his signed article published in a  local newspaper, Politika: "Let the Light of Ironclad Friendship  Illuminate the Road of China-Serbia Cooperation".

Such amity has prospered particularly under the Chinese president's  own watch. It was during his first visit to Belgrade in 2016 that the  two countries established a strategic partnership. Last year, he and  visiting President Vucic witnessed the signing of dozens of new  cooperation agreements in Beijing, including a free trade deal expected  to take effect in July.

China was Serbia's second-largest trading partner, after the European  Union, last year with a total trade exchange of $6.1 billion, and it  was among its top five investors. Serbia is a firm supporter of the Belt  and Road Initiative. China-financed infrastructure projects under the  framework of the initiative have become key development boosters of the  country.

Serbian enthusiasm for Chinese economic and trade connections stands  in sharp contrast with the noise in Europe for "de-risking" from China.  That the Chinese president's arrival in Serbia coincided with the 25th  anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy has been widely  interpreted as a pointed message on the growing unease between Beijing  and the bloc that, encouraged by Washington, is seeking to extend its  tentacles to the Asia-Pacific region citing "systematic challenges"  posed by China.

"The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such  tragic history to repeat itself," the Chinese leader said in the  Politika article.

There is concern that the EU's growing unease about China's  development momentum may be recklessly exploited by the string-puller of  the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to a crisis-causing degree.

Beijing looks forward to taking Xi's visit as an opportunity to keep  relations with Europe on the right track of healthy development, so that  the latter can view its relationship with China more objectively.