BELGRADE, June 19, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (C, front) attends a luncheon hosted by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic (R, front) and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic (L, front) in Belgrade, Serbia, June 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)
BELGRADE, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a three-day state visit to Serbia on Sunday afternoon, and left for Poland, the second leg of his current three-nation Eurasia tour.
The just-concluded visit to Serbia was the first by a Chinese head of state to the Balkan country in 32 years.
During the visit, Xi and his Serbian counterpart, Tomislav Nikolic, inked a joint statement to upgrade their two countries' relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, injecting fresh vigor into the China-Serbia traditional friendship and bringing more tangible benefits to the two peoples.
On Saturday, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation deals covering industrial capacity, finance, infrastructure, trade, energy, telecommunications, science, technology, local affairs, culture and tourism.
Also on Saturday, Xi held separate meetings with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic to discuss promotion of bilateral ties in various fields.
Upon arrival in Belgrade on Friday afternoon, the Chinese president and his wife, Peng Liyuan, paid homage to three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on May 7, 1999.
Earlier on Sunday, Xi, accompanied by Nikolic and Vucic, paid a visit to Serbia's sole steel mill in the city of Smederevo, which was acquired by China's HeSteel Group in April.
