China and Serbia would hold their first joint military exercise in late July in Hebei province, northern China, Chinese Defence Ministry said on Monday.
Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defence, announced that the Peace Defenders-2025 drills are to take place in the second half of July with the participation of special operations forces from both countries.
This will be the first joint training between Chinese and Serbian militaries. It will help strengthen combat capabilities of participating troops and deepen cooperation between the two militaries.
The drills marked China’s first military exercise involving a European country since a joint counterterrorism exercise with Belarus near the Polish-Ukrainian border in July 2024.
Serbia is China’s closest European partner, and the relationship is partly built on shared historical grievances, notably NATO’s 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo war, a sensitive issue in China-US relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Serbia in May 2024 on the anniversary of the bombings, describing relations between the two countries as “ironclad friendship”. Then Beijing and Belgrade inked agreements to deepen a comprehensive strategic partnership and “build a community with a shared future”.
In recent years, China invested billions of dollars in Serbia, funding infrastructure projects including roads, railways, factories and mines. China is Serbia’s largest foreign investor, with Chinese companies taking the lead in areas such as mining and manufacturing.
In February 2024, Serbia announced plans to further expand its Chinese drone fleet, drawing on previous acquisitions made in 2020. President Aleksandar Vučić stressed the importance of strengthening military capabilities amid regional tensions following a trilateral defence pact signed in March by neighbouring Albania, Croatia and Kosovo.
The Serbian army will show what it has at the big parade [in Belgrade in mid-September].
Despite close ties with China and Russia, Serbia supports military co-operation with the West, including NATO. In June, Serbia conducted joint drills with the United States and other NATO countries, underscoring Belgrade’s commitment to balancing East and West.
