Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic Photo: VCG

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he may meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his visit to China in early September, the TASS News Agency reported on Monday. 

"I'm going to China on a five-day trip on September 1-6. I've been told that Putin will also be there, so I may meet with him," Vucic told reporters, according to TASS.

According to an earlier TASS report, Putin will visit China in September. 

However, as of press time, China had not released any official information about the visit.

The Xinhua News Agency reported in June that China will invite foreign leaders, former political dignitaries, high-level officials and heads of international organizations to events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

China is going to hold events marking the anniversaries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had announced.

China-Serbia cooperation has significantly expanded in recent years, Singapore's media Lianhe Zaobao reported on Monday. According to Chinese customs statistics, China-Serbia trade totaled $5.73 billion in 2024, marking a 31.8 percent increase from the previous year.

In recent weeks, China and Serbia have engaged in frequent interactions in the fields of defense, economy, and science and technology. According to a statement previously released by China's Ministry of National Defense, army special operations troops of China and Serbia conducted the Peace Guardian 2025 joint training in North China's Hebei Province in July. This marked the first joint training between the Chinese and Serbian armed forces.

According to the Serbian government's official website, Serbia plans to strengthen cooperation with China in the fields of artificial intelligence and innovation. Serbia sent a high-level delegation to attend the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2025 and the high-level meeting on global artificial intelligence (AI) governance held in Shanghai in July, where it stated that Serbia regards China as a strategic partner in the development of artificial intelligence and robotics.

Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that Serbia is a key partner of China in Europe and an important hub for the Belt and Road Initiative, with extensive investments by Chinese companies in the country.

Zhang noted that Vucic's reported attendance underscores the shared stance between China and Serbia on historical issues and upholding international order, as well as the high level of mutual trust between the two countries.

Previously, Vucic said in Moscow, on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, that China is Serbia's most precious friend, consistently offering selfless support and assistance to help Serbia develop its economy and improve the well-being of its people.