From June 6 to 8, the first round of negotiations for a free trade agreement between China and Serbia was held in Belgrade, Serbia. The two sides had in-depth consultations on and made positive progress in a wide array of issues such as trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical trade barriers, trade remedies, dispute settlement, investment and services, competition, among others.

China and Serbia started the negotiations for a free trade agreement in April, 2023. Serbia is China’s major trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2022, bilateral trade grew 10.1% year-on-year to USD3.55 billion.