Belgrade (AFP) - Serbia on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping on the second stage of a European tour aimed at deepening political and economic ties despite tensions over the war in Ukraine.

Xi arrived in the Serbian capital Tuesday evening following a state visit to France that saw sometimes robust exchanges with President Emmanuel Macron on trade and China’s close ties to Russia despite the Ukraine war.

But the other two countries chosen for Xi’s first trip to Europe since 2019 – with Hungary as the final stop after Serbia – are among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe.

China has poured billions into Serbia and neighbouring Balkan countries, particularly into mining and manufacturing, and last year Beijing and Belgrade signed a free trade agreement.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic greeted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan on a red carpet outside the main government offices in Belgrade on Wednesday.

The Chinese leader was met by a gun salute before shaking hands with officials, including the prime minister and the National Bank of Serbia governor.

The two leaders waved from a balcony to several thousand people, some waving Chinese flags, as Vucic called Xi a “friend of Serbia”.

“Such respect and love as he will find here in our Serbia, he will not find anywhere else,” Vucic added.

He told the crowd as Xi applauded: “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity. Yes, Taiwan is China”.

Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own, and has not ruled out using force to bring it under Chinese control.

Xi told Vucic in opening comments that there was a “strong feeling of friendship between our two countries”.

“I hope that this visit will meet your expectations and show the contribution that China can make to Serbia,” he said.

They later appeared together to sign a joint declaration, with commercial promises including the purchase of new Chinese trains, new air links, and increased Serbian imports.

- NATO bombing -

In Belgrade Xi received a warm welcome, with streets decked out with Chinese flags and posters proclaiming a “warm welcome” to “Chinese friends”.

His visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the 1999 US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which killed three people.

“Do not forget that our Chinese friends were with us 25 years ago when this country was being demolished and bombed,” Vucic told crowds Wednesday.

The embassy was hit during a months-long, US-led NATO campaign targeting Serbian security forces who were at war with ethnic-Albanian insurgents in Kosovo.

The US later apologised, saying outdated maps had led the pilot to strike the wrong target.

On Tuesday, Xi wrote in the Serbian daily Politika that NATO had “flagrantly bombed the Chinese embassy”, warning that China would “never allow such tragic history to repeat itself”.

Serbia has repeatedly supported China’s claims over Taiwan and in turn, Beijing has long backed Serbia’s territorial claims over the breakaway province of Kosovo.

Along with Russia, China has prevented Kosovo’s recognition at the United Nations.

Xi called for the two countries to “firmly support each other’s core interests”.

“China supports Serbia in upholding its policy of acting independently … (and) its efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Kosovo issue,” he said Wednesday.

- Ukraine fears -

“For Serbia, this is without a doubt one of the most significant visits,” Marko Tmusic, a political sciences professor at the University of Belgrade, told AFP.

In Belgrade, many welcomed Xi’s visit.

“I think it’s an excellent thing, this visit from the president of one of the most powerful countries in the world,” 67-year-old Stojan Vidovic, a retiree, told AFP.

In France, Xi met with Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who urged him not to allow the export of technology that could be used by Russia in Ukraine and to do all it could to end the war.

Xi warned the West not to “smear” China over the conflict and hit back at accusations that Chinese overcapacity was causing global trade imbalances.

Some European allies are concerned that while officially neutral over the Ukraine conflict, China is essentially backing Russia, which is using Chinese machine tools in arms production.

After meeting with Vucic, Xi will go later Wednesday to Hungary where China has invested heavily in vast battery and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plants.