Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić thanked China for helping his country fight the COVID-19 outbreak when “no one cared about us and delivered anything,” in an interview with the German daily Bild on Wednesday.

“China sent ventilators to save thousands of lives in our country,” said Vucic, while slamming comments about Sino-Serbian cooperation experiencing trouble. “Ironically, those countries conduct trade with China, a thousand times more than us.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. (File photo: agencies)

“The European Union said we can only build high-speed railways of up to 160 km per hour. However, China told us the speed can be 240 km per hour for the same price,” said the president.

He has shown gratitude to China on many occasions. Ahead of China’s Spring Festival, Vucic underlined his gratitude to China, saying, "we are profoundly grateful to you for everything you did and for our friendship, and we will do our best to keep this friendship."

(Compiled by Bai Yuanqi)