The Chinese government hopes that the results of Serbia's legislative elections will continue the traditional friendship between the two countries.
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"We attach great importance to China-Serbia relations and are ready to work with the new Serbian government to carry forward the traditional friendship and strengthen mutual trust in the political field," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
Serbia has been experiencing two years of anti-government protests following the collapse of a canopy at a railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024 that killed 16 people.
The tragedy sparked massive student protests demanding accountability and concrete action against corruption. The student movement later grew into the largest political challenger to the Serbian Progressive Party led by former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Vucic admitted defeat following initial projections of election results showing that the student-backed opposition coalition had won the most seats.
"China upholds the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and respects the independent choices of the people in those countries," Guo Jiakun added.
Guo Jiakun also said that China wants to expand practical cooperation based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, in order to maintain the stable and sustainable growth of bilateral relations with Serbia.
Vucic said the student coalition is expected to win 135 to 140 seats in Serbia's 250-member National Assembly, while his "United Serbia" coalition will only win 105 seats.
He then accused foreign interference in Serbian politics of influencing the election results. He also claimed that intervention by European countries and an American-backed "state-within-a-state" was the cause of his defeat.
According to preliminary results by pollsters Ipsos and the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, the "Students Win" coalition received 52 percent of the vote, while Vucic's "United Serbia" coalition received only 39.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the "Stability Factor" coalition led by Ivica Dacic of the Socialist Party only received 2.3 percent of the vote, based on projections from 56 percent of the processed sample.
Projections by election observer organization CRTA showed similar results, with the student coalition receiving 51.47 percent of the vote and Vucic's coalition only 40.42 percent.
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