Chinese  President Xi Jinping and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic signed more than 20 bilateral agreements on Saturday, demonstrating Beijing's desire to establish a significant presence in Europe, specifically in the Balkans.

At the first stop in his three-nation European visit, President Xi said that China wants to further enhance and deepen its relations with Serbia, taking the relationship to a higher level by establishing a strategic partnership between the two countries.

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Xi, who signed a declaration on strategic partnership with Nikolic, presided over the signing of 21 cooperation agreements and memorandums covering various sectors such as infrastructure, economy, defense, finance, energy, technology, and others.

"The relationship between our two countries is being widened and taken to a higher level," Xi said during the signing ceremony.

Economic relations

Over the years, China has been vocal in wanting to boost economic relations with the Balkan region and strengthen ties with the European Union. Xi said his three-nation state visit to Eastern Europe was the perfect opportunity to realize this goal.

China and several Eastern European countries had held several meetings in the past, in which Beijing poured billions of dollars in investment projects into the region.

Reports said China is eyeing several projects in infrastructure and energy to get its economy running and improve its relations and economic links in Europe.

" One Belt, One Road"

Xi said he is looking forward to Serbia's important role in China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative. He said Beijing has plans to strengthen economic relations and open new markets in Belgrade.

"The development of our relations is based on big projects," Xi said. "We are expecting an increase in trade and investment."

For his part, Nikolic said Belgrade is expecting to be China's most important partner, even beyond the region.

"I am convinced that Serbia's future will look completely different from today," said Nikolic.

The Serbian president awarded Xi with a Serbian state medal in honor of the occasion.

In the coming days, Xi will be paying state visits to Poland and Uzbekistan, where he will push for infrastructure project investments as top of his agenda. 

TagsSerbia, Balkan region, European Union, President Xi Jinping, china