Using new energy vehicles to jointly solidify the "ironclad friendship" between China and Serbia.

In May 2024, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Serbia, where President Aleksandar Vučić personally greeted and saw him off at the airport. During the visit, the two leaders discussed friendship and cooperation, and Serbia hosted an unprecedentedly grand welcoming ceremony. The two leaders waved to nearly 20,000 enthusiastic Serbian citizens on the platform of the Serbian Building, amidst thunderous cheers and applause, creating an unforgettable moment.

It was during that visit that the two heads of state signed a joint statement announcing the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era.

“Serbia is the first European country to jointly build a community with a shared future in the new era with China, fully demonstrating the special nature and high level of the bilateral relationship,” President Xi Jinping emphasized during his meeting with President Vučić in Beijing on September 4, 2025.

From the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to three consecutive Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation sessions, and the activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Vučić has attended numerous major events in China. "Ironclad friendship" has been a frequently used phrase in President Xi Jinping's meetings and phone calls with President Vučić.

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said that the close exchanges and deep friendship between the two heads of state have provided important impetus for the continued deepening of bilateral cooperation.

This "ironclad friendship" is rooted in a series of pragmatic cooperation actions between China and Serbia—the Smederevo Steel Plant, hailed as "the pride of Serbia," is a successful example of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. This century-old steel plant was once mired in difficulties and on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2016, China's HBIS Group stepped in to acquire it. With the joint efforts of both sides, the steel plant was revitalized.

During his visit to Serbia in 2016, President Xi Jinping made a special trip to this steel plant, delivered a speech, and interacted warmly with the plant's employees.

"We don't need to make empty promises or boast; we must sincerely and seriously fulfill our commitments. What we say, we must do," President Xi Jinping's speech repeatedly drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.

"I will never forget your speech to the workers of the Smederevo Steel Plant," President Vučić told visiting President Xi Jinping in May 2024.

During this visit, President Xi also brought a special gift—artworks shaped like the Temple of Heaven and the Church of Saint Sava, made from steel produced by the plant. President Xi quipped, "They're 'steel-pole' friends now, even deeper than 'iron-pole' friends." Cvetanovic, deputy director of the hot rolling workshop at the steel plant, told Xinhua News Agency that President Xi's repeated warm encouragement gave the plant's workers "the courage to keep moving forward." In recent years, many employees have come to China for exchanges and studies; he himself has visited China five times, making new friends and mastering new technologies each time.

Under the guidance and promotion of the two heads of state, practical cooperation between China and Serbia has continuously expanded in depth and breadth in recent years. In October 2025, the Serbian section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway, a key project of the Belt and Road Initiative, was fully opened. President Vučić personally rode the high-speed rail, experiencing the construction and speed of China. He expressed his gratitude to China for its support of Serbian national projects and for this "ironclad friendship."

With the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement taking effect on July 1, 2024, Serbian specialty products such as wine, honey, and beef and mutton are increasingly entering the Chinese market; projects constructed with the participation of Chinese companies, such as the Belgrade Ring Road and the Upper Miranovac Ring Road, have been completed, becoming important infrastructure projects supporting Serbia's national development.

This "ironclad friendship" is embodied in the expectation of future joint development—in September 2025, when President Xi Jinping met with President Vučić, he emphasized the need to "deepen cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and new energy."