BEIJING (AP) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic deepened ties with China on Monday during a trip to Beijing as he faced pressure at home from anti-government protests in his Balkan country, including a major rally that prompted clashes over the weekend.After a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two leaders witnessed the signing of more than 20 cooperation agreements, covering areas such as politics, trade, technology and education, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. During their talks, Xi told Vucic that their countries should strengthen exchanges and cooperation to push their comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights. “China supports Serbia in persisting on a development path that suits its own national conditions, and is willing to strengthen exchanges of governance experience with Serbia,” CCTV quoted Xi as saying.
Xi also said both sides should expand cooperation in artificial intelligence, digital economy and green energy to develop new growth drivers. In a joint statement released by Chinese official news agency Xinhua, both sides said countries must not politicize human rights issues, the two nations would promote sovereign equality, practice multilateralism and observe international rule of law.
