Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic in Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

SOFIA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met here Friday with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, and the two sides agreed to further step up bilateral practical cooperation.

The China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership is developing smoothly, said Li, who arrived in Sofia on Thursday for an official visit to Bulgaria and the seventh leaders' meeting of China and 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

China, Li added, is ready to work with Serbia to continue maintaining close communication and coordination and deepening bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields.

Noting that bilateral practical cooperation enjoys a solid foundation, he said the reconstruction of the Belgrade-Stara Pazova segment of the Belgrade-Budapest Railway, a flagship project within the framework of 16+1 cooperation, is progressing smoothly and the two sides need to make concerted efforts to push it forward.

In addition, Li said, the Chinese-invested Smederevo steel plant in Serbia has set a successful example for bilateral and even China-CEE major-project cooperation in production capacity.

China stands ready to work with Serbia to push forward bilateral cooperation in various fields in a sustainable and vigorous manner, Li said.

Brnabic said bilateral practical cooperation is making steady progress, and the Smederevo steel mill is running smoothly and becoming increasingly profitable.

Serbia, she said, is willing to work with China to continue the Belgrade-Budapest Railway project, and invites more Chinese companies to participate in such projects as mining, energy, heating and infrastructure construction.

Serbia welcomes more Chinese tourists, for whom Serbia has adopted a visa-free policy, and hopes to further promote people-to-people exchanges, added the prime minister.