Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Serbian President TomislavNikolić at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 31, 2015.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Serbia will exert epoch-making significance on bilateral ties and begin a new chapter in bilateral friendship, said Serbian President TomislavNikolić in a written interview with the People’s Daily.

Xi’s visit this time, starting from Friday, is the first state visit of a Chinese President to Serbia in more than 30 years.

“We are thankful to President Xi Jinping for his perception of Serbia as true friend and partner, and for his decision to choose Belgrade as the first destination on his European tour,” said the president, adding that Xi’s trip will offer an opportunity to strengthen the Serbia-China ties, and boost the bilateral economic cooperation..

Hailing current bilateral relations as the best ever in history, Nikolić reiterated that Serbia supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and adheres to the One-China policy.

China and Serbia also maintain close economic cooperation, especially in infrastructure construction, noted Nikolić, explaining that Chinese companies have taken on a number of major infrastructure projects in Serbia.

Nikolić expressed his confidence of the further of bilateral economic cooperation and stressed that in infrastructure construction, there are still many large projects open for China’s participation.

He also hoped to see more Chinese enterprises promoting Serbia’s development by setting up businesses in the country. “I will renew my appeal to President Xi Jinping, asking him to invite investors from China to recognize Serbia,” he added.

“The Chinese dream brings happiness not only to the Chinese people, but also to peoples around the world. Together, we will make the Serbian-Chinese dream come true,” he said.