(Bloomberg) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Serbia in 2024, according to the Balkan nation, as Beijing’s broader relationship with Europe frays over trade disputes and the war in Ukraine.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the trip had been confirmed in talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a post on the Balkan leader’s website late Monday. He was speaking at a ceremony organized for the Chinese ambassador to Serbia, Li Ming.

Vucic said he couldn’t provide the exact date of the Chinese president’s planned visit, but pledged to create a good atmosphere for “one of the most important world leaders.”

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning.

Xi’s decision to travel to Serbia would mark his first visit to Europe in more than four years, excluding a border hop in March 2023 to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin. His last trip to Europe before that came in 2019 when he visited Greece months before a global pandemic closed China’s borders for three years and clipped Xi’s own travel agenda.

Read More: Xi’s Spent Two Days Outside China in 2023 as Problems Mount

The Chinese leader has since resumed overseas engagements but at a slower pace than pre-Covid, putting greater emphasis on such trips. Xi made just four international visits last year, compared with an average of 14 overseas trips annually between 2013 and 2019, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of government statements after his meetings.

While Beijing’s relationship with Brussels frayed during the pandemic over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ruling Communist Party’s trade policies, China and Serbia have cultivated closer ties in recent years.

Chinese state media frequently reported on Beijing providing aid to the Balkan nation during the pandemic and on Vucic defending the Asian country’s strict Covid polices.

Xi and Vucic met in October last year at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, with the Chinese leader describing Serbia as “an ironclad friend.” That month, the two countries canceled tariffs on some 90% of tax items under a new free-trade agreement.

And in December, China’s central bank said that a new yuan clearing arrangement with Serbia would help businesses and financial institutions to use the currency for more cross-border transactions. Beijing has been promoting greater use of its currency in a bid to reduce dependency on the dollar.

–With assistance from Colum Murphy.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.