Chinese president Xi Jinping and Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Belgrade China Cultural Center and together unearth soil for the foundation stone. on June 17 [Photo/ Xinhua]

Chinese president Xi Jinping and Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić unearthed soil for the foundation stone at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Belgrade China Cultural Center on June 17, a symbolic gesture to stress the countries’ strong ties through cultural exchanges.

Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Culture Luo Shugang, and his Serbian counterpart, Ivan Tasovac, also were present and each gave a keynote speech, stressing the importance of building bridges between the two peoples via culture.

The center will be built on the former site of the Chinese embassy that was bombed by NATO in 1999.