Xi Jinping in Serbia: not just the economy

On 17th - 19th June 2016 Xi Jinping made the first visit to Belgrade by a Chinese president in over 30 years. President Xi and Tomislav Nikolic signed a document which elevated the rank of co-operation between the two countries to an all-encompassing strategic partnership. A series of intergovernmental agreements were also signed with regard to economic, political and cultural co-operation. Among these was an agreement foreseeing a Chinese company undertaking the construction of a further Serbian section of a motorway linking Belgrade with the Montenegrin Adriatic. Contrary to what had been expected, agreements which would accelerate the delivery of the flagship Chinese-Serbian project of modernisation of the Serbian section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway were not concluded.