Serbians show higher trust in China since pandemic outbreak: survey

BELGRADE, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- A research project found rising appreciation for China among Serbians, the Serbian news agency Fonet reported Tuesday.

Of the 1,004 respondents older than 15, 77 percent think that "China has (a) positive impact on Serbia," and 81 percent agree that "China has made the most donations to Serbia during the pandemic," showed a survey by a local think tank conducted from April 16 to 28 in the project released on Aug. 19 by the Center for Free Elections.

As many as one third of the surveyed think that China has "donated the most in non-repayable grants to Serbia in the past 20 years," the survey said.

Since the pandemic broke out, China has sent medical aid and batches of vaccines to Serbia, with the Sinopharm vaccine witnessing widespread use among the Serbian population, and helped build two "Fire Eye" laboratories for PCR testing. Chinese doctors spent months helping set up prevention measures at the beginning of the outbreak.

The poll "coincides greatly" with the findings of a content analysis in a project involving 11 mainstream online media in Serbia, which generally promote China-Serbia relations, and position China as a "global leader in (the) fight against COVID-19" and "main partner of Serbia."