The 12th Session of the China-Serbia Intergovernmental Joint Commission was held in Beijing on December 18. Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarović and Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade Jagoda Lazarević, who attended the meeting in China. Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji co-chaired the joint commission meeting with Serbian side.

Wang noted that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two countries’ heads of state, China-Serbia economic and trade relations have been flourishing. The bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) has boosted the rapid growth of two-way trade, with Chinese enterprises achieving fruitful results in their investments in Serbia, and cooperation on major projects progressing smoothly. The Serbian section of the Budapest-Belgrade Railway has been opened to traffic, standing as a significant achievement in the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has outlined a grand blueprint for China’s development over the next five years, and the Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development present new opportunities to strengthen cooperation with the world, including Serbia. China is ready to work with the Serbian side to actively implement the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, strengthen the alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and the “Serbia 2035” programme, leverage the role of the joint commission and its investment working group, tap into the potential for cooperation across various fields, and further deepen and substantiate bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

The Serbian side stated that China is its most important economic and trading partner. Thanks to Chinese investment, Serbia’s economy has been sustained growth and people’s livelihoods have continuously improved in recent years. Serbia has always been actively promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and supporting the China-CEEC cooperation, and is committed to creating a favorable business environment for Chinese enterprises operating in Serbia. Serbia is ready to work with China to implement the important economic and trade consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries, deepen cooperation in trade, investment, and infrastructure construction, and welcome increased investment from Chinese enterprises in its automotive, new energy, and processing and manufacturing sectors.

The two sides spoke positively of the cooperation outcomes achieved since the last session of the joint commission. They agreed to further unlock the benefits of the bilateral FTA, convene the first meeting of the investment working group as soon as possible, enhance investment cooperation in areas such as the green economy and new energy vehicles, promote the integration of trade and investment, and strengthen collaboration on the follow-up operation of the Budapest-Belgrade Railway and Serbia’s hosting of the Specialized Expo 2027. Following the meeting, the two sides jointly signed the minutes.