"In recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between Serbia and China has yielded fruitful results, bringing great benefits to the two peoples." Katarina Zakic, director of the "Belt and Road" Regional Research Center of the Serbian Institute of International Political Economy, said in an interview with our reporter that the breadth and depth of practical cooperation between the two countries are impressive, "Through the joint efforts of both sides, the economic and trade cooperation between Serbia and China has continued to deepen and become more practical".
Serbia is one of the first European countries to sign a cooperation document with China to jointly build the "Belt and Road". In October last year, Zaki attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing. She believes that participating in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is an important opportunity for many countries to further develop their economies and enhance the well-being of their people. "Serbia China cooperation has not only improved Serbia's infrastructure, but also created a lot of employment opportunities for Serbia."
In 2023, China will be Serbia's largest source of investment and the second largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume reaching 4.35 billion US dollars. Chinese funded enterprises have ranked among the top three export foreign exchange earning enterprises in Serbia for many consecutive years. The two countries have close cooperation in infrastructure construction and other fields. Zakic said that at present, automobile parts manufacturing has become one of the key areas of Serbia China cooperation, which will strongly promote the development of Serbia's automobile manufacturing industry, expand the export of related products, and promote Serbia's trade balance.
In October 2023, China and Serbia signed the first free trade agreement between China and Central and Eastern European countries, which will come into force on July 1 this year. "China is one of the most dynamic markets in the world, and the FTA will further promote trade and mutual investment between Serbia and China." Zaki believed that high-quality products of both countries will be more convenient to enter each other's markets, and related enterprises of both countries will also be more convenient to carry out business in each other's countries. "This will add new momentum to the high-quality joint construction of the" Belt and Road "and the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Serbia and China."
In November 2023, Serbia will be the guest of honor of the 6th China International Import Expo. At the Expo, Serbian enterprises and Chinese partners reached a number of cooperation agreements. Zakic said: "The Expo is one of the important measures for China to open its market to the world, and has become a bridge for win-win cooperation between Serbian and Chinese enterprises. By participating in the Expo, Serbian enterprises have more opportunities to establish contacts with the Chinese market and consumers, and to show the world special products."
Zaki Qi believed that China's global development initiative, global security initiative and global civilization initiative have contributed to China's plan to improve global governance and solve human development problems, which reflects China's responsibility as a responsible major country. "The Global Development Initiative helps to implement the United Nations sustainable development goals, which is highly consistent with Serbia's own development goals." She believes that Serbia and China will have great potential to strengthen cooperation under the framework of the Global Development Initiative.
Zaki Qi said that China will accelerate the development of new quality productive forces and promote high-quality development, which will contribute to the recovery of the world economy. "Serbia hopes to further deepen cooperation in emerging scientific and technological fields between the two countries, especially in information technology, modern agriculture, biotechnology, green energy and other fields." Zakic said that he believes that with the joint efforts of both sides, Serbia and China will open a new chapter of mutually beneficial cooperation.
(Our newspaper, Belgrade, May 10)
People's Daily (May 11, 2024, 2nd Edition)
(Editor in charge: Hu Yongqiu, Yang Guangyu)
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