BELGRADE, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Visiting top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo and Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic met here on Thursday and agreed to expand cooperation between their two countries.
During their talks, Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, spoke highly of the China-Serbia ties, saying China sees Serbia as an important cooperation partner in Southeastern Europe.
Thanks to their joint efforts, the two countries have made remarkable achievements in their cooperation in infrastructure construction, automobile manufacturing and other areas, noted Wu, the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Serbia since the two countries established their strategic partnership in 2009.
The Chinese guest particularly referred to the official inauguration of the Zemun Bridge construction, the biggest infrastructure project to be conducted in Serbia by a Chinese enterprise.
Wu on Wednesday attended the groundbreaking ceremony for building the bridge, which will span the Danube river and ease local traffic strain.
As the two countries boast good political relations, strongly complementary economies and huge cooperation potential, Wu stressed, China and Serbia should make a full use of such advantages and seize opportunities to deepen bilateral collaboration in infrastructure construction including roads, bridges and power plants.
Meanwhile, the two countries should explore new ways and fields of cooperation, consolidate the leading role of enterprises in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and thus build up momentum for a substantial leap forward on the cooperation track, added Wu.
Stressing that China encourages its businesses to cooperate with their Serbian counterparts in various ways, Wu expressed the hope that the Serbian side will further facilitate corporate cooperation between the two countries.
For his part, Cvetkovic first recalled his experience in the Serbian National Pavilion Day activities at the World Expo in Shanghai last month, saying that he was deeply impressed by the unparalleled exhibition, which he said will surely help Serbia better showcase its splendid history and modern accomplishments to the world.
Noting that economic and trade cooperation is a significant part of the Serbia-China strategic partnership, the Serbian host also cited the Zemun Bridge project, stressing that the new fruit of bilateral cooperation symbolizes the Serbia-China friendship and injects new impetus into the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Serbia attaches great importance to enhancing ties with China, and is ready to continue expanding cooperation in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, tourism and other fields, Cvetkovic emphasized.
Serbia keeps its door open for Chinese enterprises, and is ready to create a better environment for corporate cooperation between the two countries, he continued, adding that his country will learn from China's successful opening-up policy and foreign investment incentives.
Wu met with Serbian President Boris Tadic on Wednesday after a visit to France. He is scheduled to leave on Friday for Switzerland, the last leg of his three-nation Europe tour, where he will attend the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva.