On first of March the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia and the Defence Attache of the Republic of Serbia to the People's Republic of China organized the joint celebration of the Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia and the Day of the Serbian Armed Forces in Beijing. Reception was attended by more than 300 guests, including 60 ambassadors and heads of missions in Beijing, numerous representatives of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Chinese ministries, agencies and instituitions, as well as Serbian diaspora in China. The Embassy's guest of honor at the reception was the Special Envoy for Europe of the Government of the People's Republic of China Wu Hungbo, while the chief guest of the Defence Attache was the Director General of the Institute of Engineering of the Military Academy, Major General Xiong Mingfeng.

 

In her adress to the guests, Ambassador Stefanović emphasized the importance of the First Serbian Uprising and the Sretenje Constitution of Serbia in the context of the restoration of statehood and the development of a modern Serbian state. Underlining that Serbia remains committed to the development and promotion of peace and stability, she pointed out that Serbia strives to develop relations with all countries on the basis of equality. She said that Serbia is developing relations with our neighbors, continuing the path to full membership in the EU and is dedicated developing relations, both with great powers and traditionally friendly countries around the world. She particularly underlined the importance of the struggle to preserve the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Serbia in regards with the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, and stressed that Serbia, while preserving its own territorial integrity and insisting on respecting the aforementioned principle without exception, also respects the territorial integrity of other countries, the principles of international law and the UN Charter.

 

She particularly emphasized the importance of China's support for the territorial integrity of Serbia, as well as the importance of further overall development of relations between Serbia and China, with an emphasis on the upward trend in economic, investment and trade cooperation. She emphasized the importance of cultural cooperation, commending the work of the Cultural Center of Serbia in Beijing and the Cultural Center of China in Belgrade, along with the promotion of cooperation in the field of new technologies. She informed the guests that on the occasion of Statehood Day, this year, the the President of Serbia, A. Vučić awarded the previous ambassador of China to Serbia, amb. Chen Bo and Professor Ma Si Pu, who also attended the reception, for their personal contribution to the development of relations between Serbia and China.