On June 6-8, 2023, the first round of negotiations on the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement was held in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Yu Benlin, director of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce, led the Chinese delegation to attend the meeting. The two sides conducted in-depth consultations on trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, dispute settlement, investment and services, competition, legal provisions and institutional provisions, and make positive progress.
Negotiations on the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement will start in April 2023. Serbia is an important economic and trade partner of China in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Serbia will be US$3.55 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%.