Which Chinese products will be cheaper for consumers in Serbia from next year, and which products our companies will export to the Chinese market under more favorable conditions is precisely determined by the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, which should enter into force next year.
In addition to certain types of fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products, fish, the list of products that Serbian businessmen will export under more favorable conditions (with lower customs duties, i.e. without them) also includes wood, fabric, pharmaceutical products, mineral fertilizers and others.
When the Agreement enters into force, certain products from China will be available to local consumers at a lower price than the current one.
The negotiations that preceded the conclusion of the agreement were held in Belgrade and Beijing and lasted from April 12th to September 26th, 2023.
The free trade agreement with China includes 10,412 Serbian products (tariff positions) and 8,930 Chinese products.
According to Trade Minister Tomislav Momirović, the free trade agreement has 93 members, six chapters and, he says, a total of eight working groups worked on it.
Foreign trade exchange with China
What is characteristic of Serbia’s trade with China is that imports to this country are significantly higher than exports.
According to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics, Serbia’s exports to China increased by more than a third – from 799 million euros in 2021 to 1.1 billion euros in 2022.
Growth was also recorded on the import side, by less than 34 percent – from 3.5 billion euros in 2021 to 4.7 billion euros in 2022.
