by Nemanja Cabric, Wang Huijuan

BELGRADE, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming sessions of China's top legislative and advisory bodies are not only important for China's own development, but can help shape a better future for people around the world, said a senior Serbian official.

Zarko Obradovic, vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Obradovic, also head of the parliamentary friendship group with China and former education minister, noted that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy by Beijing.

He said China's opening-up that started four decades ago was an "immensely important, key decision" that combined strength, knowledge and wisdom and finally influenced the future of China and the world.

"I think that there is no country in modern history which managed to make such progress in such a narrow time span," said Obradovic.

According to Obradovic, 40 years of opening-up and reform have made China a powerful economy and a motor of development not only in Asia but also globally, with an important influence on economies of many countries around the world.

It is hard for a big and populous country like China to maintain a steady growth rate for such a long period of time, he said, noting that China has been a key factor to help suppress the negative effects of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Obradovic believes China's proposals like the Belt and Road Initiatives and 16+1 cooperation mechanisms are very important for boosting the internal development of participating countries.

He said the Belt and Road Initiative is "the first project on such a global scale with so many countries included and with development and peace as its aim," adding that a lot of countries are expressing their interest to be included in the initiative.

Obradovic said the upcoming "Two Sessions" in China are expected to focus on problems the Chinese people are coping with. He believes the Chinese leaders have the wisdom and ability to "turn these ideas and suggestions into concrete actions and projects."

He also said that 2018 will be an immensely important year for Serbia-China relations.

"Serbia and China have already realized important projects within the (Belt and Road) Initiative, while more are ongoing or in plan and 2018 should give an additional impulse to this trend," he said.