Planned bridge marks closer ties between Serbian, Chinese cities

BELGRADE, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city, and Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, have pledged to deepen cooperation through a new infrastructure project -- a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to be built on the historic site of the former Franz Josef Bridge.

The project was unveiled on Monday at Novi Sad City Hall, where representatives from the two cities signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen bilateral ties. Zarko Micin, mayor of Novi Sad, and Liu Qiang, secretary of the Jinan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, unveiled a model of the planned bridge.

The new bridge, to be built by Shandong Hi-Speed Group, will link Novi Sad's city center with the Petrovaradin Fortress. The original Franz Josef Bridge, built in the late 19th century, was destroyed during World War II.

Micin called the project a major step forward, saying it would become a new local landmark and boost tourism around the Petrovaradin Fortress. The bridge, supported by the Serbian government, is estimated to cost 4.6 billion dinars (about 44.8 million U.S. dollars).

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming described the visit of the Chinese delegation from Jinan as a concrete move toward building a "China-Serbia community with a shared future." (1 Serbian dinar = 0.0098 U.S. dollar)