At the invitation of the Serbian side and approval of the State CouncilNing Jizhe, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission delivered a video speech on November 22 at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Novi Sad – Subotica border section of the Serbia – Hungary Railway. Vučić, Serbian President, Pastor, President of the assembly of the Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina, Igor Mirović, head of the provincial government, Momirović, Minister of Transportation, Construction and Infrastructure, Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary attended the ceremony.
The Serbian and Hungarian sides spoke highly of the positive role of the project in strengthening the relations among China, Serbia and Hungary as well as its economic and social significance. Serbian President Vučić said, Serbia and China have maintained mutual respect and genuine friendship in addition to the pragmatic international relations between both countries. The construction of the Serbia-Hungary Railway, which helps boost the residential income and living standard, will greatly benefit the local people. Serbian people will continue with the enhancement of the cooperation with China. Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary believes the Serbia-Hungary Railway, which is important to both Hungary and Serbia and meets the interests of both countries, will not only bring benefits to the people but also consolidate the historical traditional friendship between China, Hungary and Serbia.
Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe said in the speech, the Serbia–Hungary Railway cooperation of China, Serbia and Hungary has further consolidated the brotherly friendship of the three countries and promoted the continuous development of the China – Serbia and China – Hungary comprehensive strategic partnerships.
Vice Chairman Ning emphasized in the speech, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC) was concluded not long ago, which summarized the major achievements and historical experience of the CPC’s century-long efforts, and clarified the rationale for insisting on a global perspective, opening up instead of closing down, working for mutual benefits, rejecting zero-sum games and upholding fairness and justice. On November 19, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the Symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), putting forward clear requirements for joint participation in the BRI with high quality results. China will adhere to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, follow through the BRI with high quality results, and promote the economic development and improvement of people’s livelihood in the participating countries, which will provide more development opportunities for all countries in the world, including Serbia and Hungary.
The Serbia-Hungary Railway is a flagship project of Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, an important part of the European transport corridor and the China-Europe Land and Sea Express Route and a key project of the joint construction of the BRI and its coordination with European development strategies. The Railway, around 300 kilometers in length, connects Serbian capital Belgrade and Hungarian capital Budapest with the Serbian section of 142.6 km with a design speed limit of 200 kilometers per hour. Once the Railway is fully opened to traffic, it will greatly cut the commute hours between the two cities and remarkably improve the transportation accessibility levels for the local people.