Serbia Opens Two New Economic and Trade Missions in China
Serbia also wants to become one of the “official partner” countries of BRICS
The Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PKS) has opened two new representative offices in China, in the capital Beijing and in the industrial city of Changsha, capital of south-central Hunan province. President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marko Cadez (pictured) said that after the signing of the free trade agreement between the two countries, which took place in Belgrade on May 8, 2024, by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, “these new offices will be two important poles of Chinese business and support for Serbian companies that want to start new business with Chinese partners or improve existing business in this big market.”
China is the largest investor country in the Serbian economy, whose exports to China will be exempted from 95% of customs duties for 5-10 years.
“Four years ago, the Chamber opened a representative office in Shanghai, and now the free trade agreement between Serbia and China has created completely new opportunities for placing our products on the Chinese market and cooperating with Chinese companies, so as of today we officially have two new offices of the Republic of Serbia in China,” said Cadez.
China is one of the founding countries of BRICS, Serbia is also strengthening relations with this influential international group. At the recent annual BRICS summit, 13 countries became “official partners” of the organization. As Serbian Minister of International Economic Cooperation Nenad Popovic (pictured), who along with three other Serbian ministers attended the BRICS summit in Kazan, said in an interview, Belgrade should also become an “official partner” of BRICS: “I express my opinion: personally, I would like Serbia to become a partner country of BRICS, because this format is the organization with the fastest economic growth in the world.”
Popovic described himself as a “big fan” of BRICS. Belgrade has “no open political issues with any of the participating countries” of the platform. “They respect our territorial integrity, our independence, and our free political direction. They do not give us instructions, and we are in charge of our economic development,” emphasized the Serbian minister, according to whom, “despite the desire for European integration, Serbia does not want to interrupt the development of bilateral relations with the BRICS countries.”
Regarding Belgrade’s future fundamental international choice, Popovic said Serbia would never become a NATO member state. Belgrade remembers very well the devastating bombing by the Atlantic Alliance in 1999, and after those events “I assure you that Serbia will never become a member of NATO,” Popovic said, emphasizing the importance of relations with Russia for Serbia, the only country that militarily stood up for Serbia in June 1999.
In this context, Popovic emphasized that Russian assets in Serbia will be protected: “Every foreign investor is protected in terms of capital in Serbia. I can say that Russian assets in Serbia will be absolutely protected, this is our policy,” Popovic said. As for the pressure on Belgrade from Western countries for not imposing sanctions against Russia because of its military operation in Ukraine, the Serbian minister responded: “They talk about democracy, about the free flow of capital. But then they freeze Russian assets. It’s cynicism.”