Exclusive with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić

It's such a big deal for us. It's not only about my personal happiness. It's about something else. It's about obligations in the future.

Even bigger responsibility. Yes. In order to get us even into a better position, speaking about community with a shared future, speaking about our cooperation, level of our collaboration in all different fields and spheres.

Very pleased to see you again.

This was my first visit to the Great Wall. Yeah. But it's a fascinating place.

And my response was always more meetings with some companies, possible investors, whatever. But at the end, he was right. I should have gone there much earlier.

Then I realized how big that was. And you know, then you start asking yourself whether you deserve that or not, what you did, whether I was able to do something more.

Yes. It was something that raised emotions even in my country. And you know, I have relatively old parents and we speak to each other three, four, five times a week. But both of them were calling me last night about this award.

We were crying. These were tears of joy. Very proud of me and our family. My mother said, 'That's what you deserved, as all the other citizens.' People were happy and I was the happiest. And I believe at the end people noticed sentiments and emotions that were shown. You cannot hide it. It's such a big deal for us.

Not only something nice, something terrific. It's not only about my personal happiness. It's about something else. It's about obligations in the future and even bigger responsibility. Yes, in order to get us even into a better position, speaking about community with a shared future, speaking about our cooperation, level of our collaboration in all different fields and spheres, which is not always as easy as it looks, but with huge support of the presidency, I believe that we'll be able to implement all the arrangements, all the agreements and consensuses that we reached. And at the end, that will be done for the benefit and for the sake of the Serbian people and even for Chinese people, although China is much, much, much bigger. But I think that at least in the international arena and regarding the economy and some other issues, Serbia can be helpful to China as well.

Why I was saying this is because of the timeline. This is a very particular moment in which you see many other big powers acting in a way that you cannot predict. You cannot foresee what they're going to do tomorrow, not to mention what they're going to do within a month or within a year. And it brings us to our first conclusion: China in the meantime became even more important as a gravity center of stability, not only for this part of Asia but for the entire world. Because all over the world there are peoples, nations, and countries that are waiting for the presidency's opinion, and they know that there will be no big surprises. They know that they can rely on Chinese foreign policy, they can rely on responsible messages or responsible answers to whatever might happen in the world, which is a very rare case today. Number two, amidst instability in all the other parts of the world, stability, tranquility, and peace that has always been offered by China. Number three, it's about Chinese people having a hard-working spirit combined with the wise decisions of the top leadership of the People's Republic of China. China is a great example of showing to the world how responsible leadership can contribute to a better living standard of their people and to a better positioning not only of itself but of all its allies in today's world political arena.

He is, first of all, I read a lot of books about his life, about his not easy life, and that's one of the reasons why I very much appreciate him. Because he has an absolute lack of arrogance. He was living under hard conditions. It hardened him. He is very down to earth. He is just a man from the folks, still thinking of and for the betterment of his people, and that's his priority. This is his real dream and he aims high. Number two, he's a very courageous man but at the same time very calm and patient, which is not easy to connect with each other. Some people might say it contradicts itself but it does not in his case. He's at the same time a calm, tranquil person and very courageous. And there is something else. I very much believe in institutional plans but also people's plans. Without a plan, you're nobody. You cannot reach anything. You cannot accomplish. You cannot achieve anything. He always has a plan in his mind, doesn't matter what he speaks about. You see that he was once again turning to China, Chinese interests, and Chinese plans. And this is something amazing, that he is so committed, he is so devoted, that he always goes back, he always recalls himself on plans for China, which is an amazing character feature of someone who is able to deliver such magnificent results. And what I was saying to these young kids, to these young students today, as someone that is coming from abroad relatively often, once in six, seven, eight months, I always see big changes. Regular people in China, they're in the habit of seeing big construction sites, tens of thousands of railroads, highways, motorways, whatever. It's not given forever. And that's why China needs wise leadership. And this is something that is always necessary. New EVs and everything that you produce today, you're taking a bigger share of the European market and markets all over the world. And no one can stop China. But someone had to work for that for many years in a very diligent and dedicated way.