ISTANBUL

The militaries of China and Serbia are set to soon hold their first joint training, the Chinese Defense Ministry said Monday.

Special operations troops of the Chinese and Serbian armies will carry out the Peace Guardian 2025 joint exercise in China’s northern Hebei province later this month, Col. Jiang Bin, a ministry spokesman, told a news briefing in Beijing on Monday.

"This will be the first joint training between the Chinese and Serbian militaries. It will help strengthen combat capabilities of participating troops and deepen cooperation between the two militaries," he said.

In recent years, the two countries have had closer relations, politically and otherwise.

In 2024, China was Serbia’s second-largest trade partner, after the EU.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote a piece for a Serbian daily saying said their friendship “is soaked in blood that the two peoples spilled together,” forming a shared memory that “will encourage both parties to make together huge steps forward."