Minister Vučević delivers lecture to Strategic Command Course participants from China's National Defence University

Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević held a lecture - "Relations between Serbia and China - Continuity of Understanding and Cooperation" to the students attending the Strategic Command Course at the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University of China, led by Deputy Commissioner of the said university, Major General He Xingbo.
 
Minister Vučević said it was his pleasure to address our friends from the People's Republic of China. During the lecture, he spoke about the cooperation between Serbia and China in diplomatic, economic, military, cultural and medical spheres, and he devoted the final part of his lecture to current events in our country and in the region.



Minister Vučević also reminded that in two years’ time we would mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Serbia and China.

- During the course of those seven decades, the intensity and quality of our diplomatic relations has changed, but we can say with certainty that over the last fifteen or twenty years, the overall relations between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia have been progressing, i.e. they have been at a high level. There are several reasons for this - but the primary one for the Republic of Serbia, which is also imperative for international relations, is what the People’s Republic of China has defined with its partners through five principles of peaceful coexistence - said Minister Vučević, indicating that this is precisely what Serbia strives for by consistently implementing and observing international law.

Minister Vučević also stressed the importance of economic cooperation between Serbia and China, including the current initiatives and investments that are very important for our country.

What left a strong impression on the citizens of Serbia when it comes to the cooperation between the two countries, Minister Vučević said, was the struggle against the Covid 19 pandemic. He reminded that Serbia had been one of the first countries to send aid to the People's Republic of China when the latter faced that challenge, but that Chinese virologists had also come to our aid in the midst of a worldwide epidemic.
 
Minister Vučević pointed out the importance of the military-to-military cooperation, which, according to him, stems from and is a continuation of "steel friendship" between the two countries and has shown an upward trend over the last decade.
 
- As for the future relations between the two countries, I am strongly optimistic and I believe that the “steel friendship” between the People's Republic of China and Serbia would persevere - Minister Vučević said at the end of his address.



Deputy Commissioner of the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University of China, Major General He Xingbo, thanked Minister Vučević for the opportunity to listen to the former’s lecture.

- On behalf of the entire staff of China’s Defence University, I would like to congratulate the Serbian people for achieving extremely good results in their development under the leadership of President Vučić - said General He Xingbo.

According to him, the Serbia-China relationship is developing well under the strategic leadership of the two countries’ presidents, Xi Jinping and Aleksandar Vučić.
 
- I entirely agree with you that the friendship between the two nations has become even firmer during the pandemic and we would like to thank the Serbian Government most sincerely for supporting China’s efforts to protect its vital interests - stressed General He Xingbo.
 
He said that China supported Serbia’s efforts to go its own way and fight for its sovereignty and integrity.



- We are happy to see that our military cooperation has been successful in recent years. Cooperation in the domains of military industry, education and other military fields has produced visible results. Serbia is the country with which our army has the most comprehensive cooperation - said General He Xingbo, pointing out the importance of this visit for the development of cooperation in military education.

The delegation from the People's Republic of China is paying a visit to the Defence University, and the lecture held at the School of National Defence today was attended by the General Staff Course students, alongside their Chinese colleagues.

The lecture was attended by State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence Nemanja Starović, Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Predrag Bandić, Rector of the Defence University, Brigadier General Prof. Boban Đorović, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China Chen Bo, students of the School of National Defence, officers and professors.