Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang has said that as far as Beijing is concerned, Kosovo is Serbia - and that it shall remain that way.

Ambassador Li noted that the presidents of Serbia and China, Aleksandar Vucic and Xi Jinping, will have a meeting in China during a gathering known as the Summer Davos.

Ambassador Li described relations between the two countries as "the golden age between Beijing and Belgrade" - something that has not happened before. As for how this came about, Ambassador Li said there has been traditional, stable, and friendly cooperation between Beijing and Belgrade.

"Throughout history, China has never been on the side that is against Serbia, its interests and its people. We stood with Serbia in the most difficult times, the (Western) sanctions, the bombing...," he said.

As for the Serbian people, the Chinese diplomat said the situation is the same the other way round - i.e., Serbia respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. "Nobody has ever been allowed to do anything against the interests of China on Serbian soil, never! Nobody! The two nations love each other, and two governments conduct a friendly policy," the Ambassador Li said.

Speaking about Kosovo, Ambassador Li reiterated that China's position is well known to everyone.

"China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, does not recognize Kosovo. That means that we consider it to be Serbia. The Kosovo issue should be resolved on the basis of Security Council Resolution (1244) and in accordance with important international documents. We support the Belgrade-Pristina talks in order to solve this problem," the diplomat said.