On March 20th, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce hosted a significant Business Forum and a series of bilateral meetings between Chinese and Serbian entrepreneurs, bringing together nearly 200 representatives from companies and institutions across both nations.
The event was officially opened by Marko Čadež, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Ren Hongbin, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of Commerce, Li Ming, the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Serbia, and Adrijana Mesarović, Serbia’s Minister of Economy.
Throughout the forum, opportunities for deepening economic cooperation between Serbia and China across a variety of sectors were discussed, including construction, energy, machinery, metallurgy and electrical industries, agriculture and food production, trade and services, circular economy, and medical industry.
One of the key moments of the event was the signing of a Cooperation Agreement in the field of arbitration, signed by Predrag Petrović, Secretary-General of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and Sje Changqing, Vice President of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission.
Dušan Borovčanin, Director of Expo 2027, introduced the specialised exhibition to Chinese partners, recalling that more than 80 countries have already applied to participate, including China.
In the latter part of the forum, bilateral discussions took place between Serbian and Chinese business leaders, aimed at establishing new partnerships and boosting trade exchange. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, as the leading institution for China’s economic integration with the world, presented further cooperation potential and opportunities to increase Serbian product exports to the Chinese market.
Trade data highlights the robust economic growth between the two countries – Serbia’s trade exchange with China in 2024 reached $7.5 billion, while Serbian exports to China surged by 53.7% compared to the previous year, amounting to $1.9 billion.
Furthermore, China became the largest single foreign direct investor in Serbia in 2024.
This business forum underscored once again the strategic importance of the Serbia-China economic partnership and paved the way for new investments and trade agreements that will contribute to the continued development of the economies of both nations.