President Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia in May 2024 renewed attention to China–Serbia friendship. Earlier, page 18 of People’s Daily on 16 April 2024 carried a report on carrying forward the Silk Road spirit and cooperation for mutual benefit. Covering education, trade and cultural exchange, it included the Belgrade Center for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Education, jointly developed with NetDragon. This page preserves the related report and cooperation review published on this website on 9 May 2024.
The original site archive also said that the report had been republished by outlets including the State Council Information Office, CCTV.com, Xinhuanet and People.cn. The newspaper background here is checked against the original People’s Daily electronic edition. The subsequent company timeline remains a historical review from the site archive.
The education centre and interactive technology
In January 2020, NetDragon and Serbia’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development signed a memorandum on planning smart education in Serbia. It covered educational applications, hardware, value-added services and cloud-based smart learning environments to advance digital and intelligent education. The centre jointly developed by the Serbian government, the University of Belgrade and NetDragon was an important project within this cooperation.
The archive describes an interactive display developed by NetDragon subsidiary Tiannuo at the centre. Using augmented reality (AR) and facial recognition, it recreates Belgrade’s landmark Knez Mihailova Street so that visitors appear to enter the historic district. The technology had also been used at landmarks such as Fuzhou’s Three Lanes and Seven Alleys. Bringing Belgrade’s streetscape into the display offered another way to experience Serbia. NetDragon’s official 2020 report also describes this exhibit.
Against the background of China–Serbia cooperation in infrastructure, trade and industrial supply chains, the original article identified science and technology innovation, advanced manufacturing, green energy, the digital economy and AI as emerging priorities in a medium-term Belt and Road action plan. It traced NetDragon’s work in presenting digital education solutions overseas, supporting local educational digitalization and sharing Chinese culture back to 2018. The following timeline preserves that historical account.
2018: university cooperation and a virtual laboratory
In 2018, NetDragon Chairman Dr Dejian Liu was invited to visit the University of Novi Sad and the University of Belgrade. That year, NetDragon, Beijing Normal University and the University of Novi Sad signed a memorandum to jointly develop a Future Education Virtual Laboratory. NetDragon’s official milestones also record this cooperation.
2019: exchanges and an innovation platform
According to the archive, a Serbian special envoy appointed Liu as adviser to the minister responsible for innovation and technological development in May 2019. In July, President Aleksandar Vučić received him at Serbia’s presidential office. In October, during the fourth China–Central and Eastern European Countries conference on innovation cooperation, NetDragon, Serbia’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the cabinet of the minister responsible for innovation and technological development signed a tripartite memorandum. They also launched an innovation platform for all, intended to develop innovation capabilities across Central and Eastern Europe.
2020: smart education memorandum and centre visit
The January 2020 smart education memorandum sought to create smart learning environments, advance intelligent education and information connectivity, and support comprehensive, equitable quality education. That June, Vučić and his delegation visited the robotics and AI education centre jointly developed by NetDragon, Serbia’s education ministry and the University of Belgrade’s teacher education faculty. NetDragon’s official 2020 account dates the visit to 15 June. The original article describes the centre as directly affiliated with Serbia’s education ministry.
The archive states that, after the visit, Vučić expressed approval of the centre and the cooperation on his personal social media. It retains a screenshot of the historical post and a Chinese rendering. These archival images are preserved here and relate to the 2020 visit.
2021: cooperation on teacher training
In June 2021, NetDragon, the University of Belgrade’s teacher education faculty and Serbia’s Institute for Improvement of Education signed a tripartite strategic cooperation memorandum to advance the national programme for teacher training in digital education. NetDragon’s official milestones record the cooperation.
Teacher training in the 2024 report
People’s Daily reported on 16 April 2024 that about 4,000 teachers across Serbia were then receiving training in educational information technology at the centre in successive groups. In that report, Dean Danimir Mandić described the centre as the most advanced digital education and AI laboratory in the Balkans and expressed hope that smart education would develop talent suited to changing needs. The figure and assessment refer to that historical report; they are not a current headcount or a separate comparative evaluation by this website.
Archive and sources
Archive note: the original 9 May 2024 publication date, Chinese title and URL are retained. The background People’s Daily report appeared on 16 April, a separate date from publication on this site. The 2018–2021 timeline and images come from the site archive, cross-checked with NetDragon’s 2020 report and official milestones. Positions and cooperation intentions reflect the materials of their time; subsequent outcomes have not been inserted as if already achieved then.
Sources and further reading: the People’s Daily original was reported by Xie Yahong, Yan Huan, Li Qiang and Liu Zhonghua. See also NetDragon’s 2020 centre-visit report and NetDragon’s official milestones. This page is not a full translation of the newspaper’s entire page: the company timeline and historical screenshots belong to the review in this website’s original article.
Related reports and resources
Related content: the Chair’s 2023 Serbia visit, the BNU Faculty of Education’s 2024 visit to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Forum on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Education, and AI education resources.
Original link: https://aiedchair.bnu.edu.cn/news-7156-en/
