Serbia rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping with Belgrade's eyes set firmly on attracting multi-billion dollar investments from Beijing.
President Aleksandar Vucic reaffirmed his strong support for China's sovereignty over Taiwan as he offered a lavish welcome to President Xi.
The visiting Chinese premier, meanwhile, is seeking to deepen political and economic ties with friendlier countries in Europe.
China has poured billions into Serbia and neighboring Balkan countries, particularly into mining and manufacturing, and last year Beijing and Belgrade signed a free trade agreement.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted by Vucic on a red carpet outside the main government offices in Belgrade on Wednesday.
The Chinese leader was met by a gun salute and the Chinese national anthem, as helicopters whirred overhead, before shaking hands with officials including the prime minister and the National Bank of Serbia governor.
The two leaders waved from a balcony to a crowd of several thousand waiting outside, pictures from state broadcaster RTS showed, some waving Chinese flags.
Vucic welcomed Xi and called him 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." China has stepped up diplomatic pressure on the island that it has claimed for decades.
The Chinese president arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday from 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.
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.
Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali told state broadcaster RTS that discussions Wednesday would center on "a great project."
"We are aiming to attract a major investment from China in a very promising area," he said, adding "I won't reveal our cards at this moment."
Streets in the Serbian capital were decked out with Chinese flags along with posters and billboards that proclaimed a "warm welcome" to "Chinese friends."
NATO bombing
Xi's visit also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the 1999 U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy there, 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 the crowds.
"They paid a high price, they lost people only a few hundred meters from here on this very day."
The embassy was hit during a monthslong, U.S.-led NATO campaign targeting Serbian security forces who were at war with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
The U.S. later apologized, 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 in Yugoslavia," warning that China would "never allow such tragic history to repeat itself."
China has long backed Serbia's territorial claims over the breakaway province of Kosovo and along with Russia has prevented its recognition in the United Nations.
He also hailed the "ironclad friendship" between China and Serbia, which he said was "forged with the blood of our compatriots."
Stefan Vladisavljev, program director at the Foundation BFPE for a Responsible Society, said that the date of the visit gave it "significant symbolic importance."
Ukraine fears
People in Belgrade 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.
"It's fantastic for us," agreed 69-year-old Dijana Radic, a former translator. She said she hoped there would be "results from this visit, something good for both parties."
In France, Xi met with Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They urged him not to allow the export of technology that Russia could use 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.
Europe is 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.