The mayor of Belgrade has extended a welcome to China's president Xi Jinping ahead of his visit to Serbia.

In an interview with CCTV, Sinisa Mali said citizens of Belgrade were looking forward to Xi's arrival. Mali added that Belgrade and Beijing established a sister city relationship in 1980. He described how in October last year, he visited Beijing to attend the 35th anniversary ceremony, commemorating the official friendship between the two capitals.

Mali said the priority for Belgrade is to develop the economy, and he has hopes more opportunities will be brought to the city following Xi's visit.