Bilateral cooperation gains new momentum as Serbian president visits China

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic began a five-day state visit to China on Sunday, aiming to deepen economic and investment cooperation between China and Serbia and deliver more tangible outcomes.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Serbia.

The visit is expected to advance practical cooperation between the two countries, deepen and elevate the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership, and further promote the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, Wei Jinshen, associate professor at School of Politics and International Relations of China's Lanzhou University, told the media.

After receiving Ambassador of China to Serbia Li Ming on Wednesday, Vucic stated in a social media post that his visit to China would "without any doubt be the most important visit" of his political career.

Vucic stated further that he and Li discussed the meetings he would have during the stay in China and the visits to industrial and economic giants, which is "immeasurably important" for Serbia.

Robust vitality of ties

Serbia is the first European country to jointly build a community with a shared future for the new era with China and is an important partner of China in southeast Europe, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Serbia was also among the first European countries to sign a cooperation document with China on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative.

With the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement, China signed its first free trade pact with a Central and Eastern European country. Bilateral trade has grown rapidly since the agreement took effect. In 2025, bilateral trade between China and Serbia reached $6.49 billion, marking a 13% year-on-year increase, according to China's Foreign Ministry.

China has become the largest source of foreign direct investment in Serbia and remains its second-largest trading partner, according to Li.

Economic, trade and cultural exchanges between China and Serbia have brought tangible benefits to local people and strengthened friendship between the two peoples. 

In 2025, the Chinese-built Serbian section of the Hungary-Serbia Railway opened to traffic, cutting travel time between Belgrade and the Hungarian border from more than five hours to 79 minutes. 

In 2016, China's HBIS Group acquired the Smederevo steel plant, once Serbia's largest steel factory, and established HBIS Serbia, securing the jobs of more than 5,000 employees and breathing new life into the struggling steel mill.

China and Serbia implemented a mutual visa-free policy in 2017, and in 2024, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Serbia had exceeded 156,000.

Ambassador Li said President Vucic's state visit to China will carry historic significance for the development of bilateral relations, adding that political mutual trust and economic cooperation between the two countries are expected to reach a new level.

A better future anticipated

Infrastructure cooperation between China and Serbia is expected to gain further momentum in the years ahead. Vucic once said that Serbia's rapid infrastructure development has been driven in large part by successful cooperation with Chinese companies.

In May 2026, the Serbian government signed a new agreement with China's Shandong Hi-Speed Group to build a 125-km expressway linking central and eastern Serbia, further deepening bilateral connectivity cooperation.

At the same time, China-Serbia cooperation is expanding into emerging industries. Ahead of his state visit to China, Vucic said Serbia expects to sign around 30 cooperation agreements with Chinese companies, covering sectors such as chip manufacturing and robotics.

Cooperation in the NEV sector also shows strong promise. During a visit to China last November, Ivan Pavlovic, an official from the Science and Technology Park Nis, invited Chinese automakers to establish factories in Serbia. 

He noted that Nis, Serbia's third-largest city, has a well-developed supply chain for electric vehicle components and could serve as a gateway for Chinese carmakers entering the European market.

Jelena Stefanovic, director of the Representative Office of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, said bilateral economic and trade ties are currently at their strongest level in history, while still holding enormous untapped potential. She said Vucic's visit to China is expected to open up fresh opportunities for broader bilateral cooperation.