BEIJING - President Xi Jinping hailed the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia when meeting with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Beijing on Saturday.

Xi said that the two countries enjoy high-level political mutual trust, and bilateral relations have withstood test and become even stronger, setting a model of international relations.

The Serbian president has come to China to attend the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony.

Hailing the leapfrog development of bilateral ties in recent years, Xi said that the two sides have implemented a number of cooperation projects covering multiple fields including infrastructure, energy and production capacity. He added that cooperation with Serbia is at the forefront of China's cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries.

In the face of changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, the two sides should view bilateral ties from the strategic and long-term perspective, maintain and develop their friendship, and firmly support each other's fundamental and long-term interests, Xi said.

Xi noted that the Chinese side firmly supports the people of Serbia in pursuing a development path they have chosen independently.