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A signed article by China's president Xi Jinping has been warmly received in Serbia. The article, titled “Friends Forever, Sincere Partners”, was published in the country’s oldest daily newspaper, Politika.

Founded in 1904, Politika is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade and the oldest daily of its kind in the Balkan region.

"An op-ed gives the person who's writing it a chance to speak in his own voice, and with the kind of emotional expression that he chooses," said Ljiljana Smajlovic, editor in chief of Politika.  

"This is a frank, warm, very friendly op-ed that covers everything. It covers the history of our two countries' relations. It covers the extent of the political and economic cooperation, but it also looks ahead."

After the op-ed was partially published online on Wednesday night, Politika’s website was inundated with comments from readers across the country.

She also said, "We do realize what a rare thing it is, and we do feel singled out and chosen as a partner. This kind of tone, this direct approach, this friendly manner from the president of a strong, powerful, and above all, friendly country."

"This is very much appreciated not just by our readers, but just by the population of Serbia too."

Xi's visit to Serbia will be front page news in Politika over the next three days.

"We are going to be covering on the front page Chinese president's arrival, we are going to be covering the uncovering of the statue (of Confucius), and we are going to give huge coverage to the visit to Smederevo, and that whole town, as I said, is watching this very carefully, and we are going to be watching carefully as well," said Smajlovic.

Serbia is Xi Jinping's first stop on his current three-nation tour which will also see him visit Poland and Uzbekistan. He is the first Chinese president to visit Serbia in more than 30 years.