In Belgrade, 15 Chinese state-owned enterprises signed trade agreements with Serbian companies worth about half a billion dollars. The agreements were signed as part of business meetings of Serbian and Chinese companies.
Director General of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Li Xingqian, said that China and Serbia have traditionally had friendly relations and “with the help of the leaders of both countries, excellent results have been achieved”.
“In recent years, the economic complementarity between China and Serbia has been strengthening, which has triggered the rapid growth of bilateral trade. China is the second largest trade partner of Serbia and the largest source of imports, and Serbia is an important economic and trade partner of China in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Li Xingqian.
He added that, with the arrival of the trade promotion delegation to Serbia, the Chinese government gave great importance to economic and trade relations with Serbia through concrete activity. He said that he believes that after “this mission” of the delegation, more quality products will be imported from Serbia.
According to him, the Chinese market has a large capacity and several levels.
He invited Serbian companies to visit China and participate in international fairs in order to increase the promotion of Serbian products.
Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo said that China has been an important economic partner of Serbia for two years in a row.
“In March of this year, China and Serbia officially started negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement, and I am convinced that economic cooperation will be even greater.” “This is a good moment for a Chinese delegation of ten large companies to visit Serbia with the aim of promoting trade,” Chen Bo said.
She stated that this year marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative and that thanks to this, greater growth in economic cooperation has been achieved.
Commodity exchange
“The trade between China and Serbia in 2022 was six billion dollars and was 35 percent higher than the previous year, and Serbia’s exports increased by 37.6 percent during that period,” Chen Bo said.
The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, Goran Vesić, said that today’s business meeting of Chinese and Serbian businessmen is a consequence of steely friendship, which is embodied in the personal relationship between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the President of China, Xi Jinping.
“We expect that the Free Trade Agreement between our countries will be signed by the end of the year. “Foreign trade exchange between China and Serbia last year amounted to 6.14 billion dollars, of which our exports are 1.1 billion,” said Vesić.
He added that when the Free Trade Agreement is signed, there will be more business meetings because there will be no obstacles to the development of trade.
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Serbia, Jelena Tanasković, said that the value of trade in agricultural and food products between China and Serbia is 55.5 million dollars.
“Our trade in agricultural and food products, compared to 2015 when it was 14.2 million dollars, increased to 55.5 million dollars. We don’t want to stop, but we think that this is the very beginning of cooperation for our two friendly countries, and the Free Trade Agreement will be the crown of that cooperation,” Tanasković said.
She added that she hopes that after the signing of the agreement for the export of pet food and honey, the agreement for the export of apples will be quickly signed and harmonized.
Advisor to the president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Igor Kronja, said that Serbia has developed friendly relations with China.
“From the declaration of strategic partnership until today, our close relations have been improved. Chinese companies have significant investments in Serbia, and two are among the 20 largest exporters. The Belt and Road Initiative contributed to the intensification of our cooperation, and through it we see our chance for development and the possibility for Serbia to be an important regional hub,” Kronja said.
He pointed out that the visa-free regime and direct flights will improve the possibilities for further cooperation.
Sign up for business updates & specials.
