China’s Xi Jinping gets red-carpet welcome in Serbia

Commercial connections are also a factor. The two countries signed a free trade agreement last year, building on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in 2016 – the year of Mr Xi’s previous visit to Serbia.

China now claims to be the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Serbia. Its ambassador, Li Ming, says that Hisense, along with mining company Zijin and tyre manufacturer Linglong, provide 20,000.

UN trade figures actually put China in fifth place on the foreign direct investment list, behind Germany, Italy, the US and Russia.

Nonetheless, the Chinese investments are eye-catching – and only likely to increase. Serbia has just taken delivery of its first Chinese electric high-speed trains. They will eventually run alongside Swiss-made rolling stock on the Belgrade-Budapest railway, which is being reconstructed with Chinese expertise and finance.

And that is just the start. Serbia’s infrastructure minister, Goran Vesic, says Chinese partners will work on other infrastructure, including roads, bridges, tunnels and sewage. “There is really a lot of room for co-operation with Chinese companies,” he told Serbia’s national broadcaster, RTS.

No wonder Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, is planning to personally serve the finest wines his country has to offer to his Chinese counterpart during a banquet in Mr Xi’s honour.