Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming attended a October 24 welcoming ceremony for the arrival of the first freight train in the Serbian capital from Jinan, the capital of Shangdong Province.

The first direct freight train from China traveled 10,500 kilometers in one month, and crossed Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Hungary before reaching New Belgrade station. The 500 tons of equipment delivered were for China Railways and the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which are working on the high-speed Belgrade-Budapest railway construction project.

Vucic announced that the Serbian section of the new high-speed rail link will be completed in the autumn of 2021.

Also on October 24, Minister of Economy Goran Knezevic held talks with Qian over continued cooperation between the two countries. According to Knezevic, the total trade between the two countries amounted to more than US$1.9 billion last year, and is expected to exceed this amount this year.

The minister added that the relations between the two countries are at the level of strategic partnership, and noted some of the major Chinese investments in Serbia- HBIS Group Serbia Iron & Steel in Smederevo, Zijin Mining in Bor, and Shandong Linglong tyres in Zrenjanin.

Qian told Knezevic that there is room in the Chinese market for increased exports of food and agricultural products from Serbia.