CHINESE President Xi Jinping condemned Nato as he began his visit to Serbia today, 25 years to the day after the Western military alliance carried out a deadly bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

In a letter published in the Serbian media outlet Politika, Mr Xi said China would never forget how “Nato brazenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalists.

“The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples.”

He added: “We are willing to work with our Serbian friends to stay true to our original aspirations, join hands in progress, write a new chapter in national development and revitalisation, and build a China-Serbia community with a shared future for mankind in the new era.”

US jets dropped five bombs on the embassy compound in the Serbian capital on May 7 1999, killing the three Chinese journalists and wounding 20 others. 

Nato launched the air war in March that year, officially to halt the ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians by Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

The US apologised at the time, saying the embassy bombing was a mistake that happened due to faulty intelligence. The intended target, Washington said, was the headquarters of a Serbian state arms exporter located on the same street, a few blocks away.

But there is still speculation that the attack was intentional rather than accidental. 

While straining Beijing’s relations with the US, the embassy bombing brought China and Serbia closer together. 

China has emerged as Serbia’s largest provider of foreign direct investment and its second-largest trading partner after the European Union.

Beijing opposed the Nato bombing campaign and like Serbia has never recognised Kosovo, which was split from Serbia after the war, as a sovereign state.

The Chinese president was expected to visit the site of the former embassy and pay his respects to the bombing victims. A Chinese cultural centre now stands at the spot. It includes a Confucius Institute, workshops, exhibitions, offices, residential space and a hotel. 

On Thursday Mr Xi will travel to Budapest, where he will meet Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the final leg of his European tour.