China, Serbia sign memorandum to begin FTA negotiations

China and Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to start negotiations on a free trade agreement between the two countries, the Ministry of Commerce announced.

The signing of the document came on the heels of a meeting between China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Serbia's Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade Tomislav Momirovic that occurred the same day, according to a statement from the commerce ministry.

During the meeting, the two ministers exchanged views on deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and Wang said that Serbia is China's "ironclad friend."

In recent years, China and Serbia have proactively cooperated with each other to jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative, and their economic and trade cooperation has continuously deepened, setting a model of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, Wang said.

China is willing to take a chance on the FTA negotiations to further promote bilateral trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and tap the potentials of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, in order to enhance China-Serbia economic and trade cooperation in all aspects and inject more impetus to deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Wang added.

Momirovic said that Serbia has made cooperation with China a priority for its economic development. Trade between the two countries has developed rapidly in recent years, and Serbia's exports to China have seen fast growth, while the two countries have also achieved fruitful cooperation in investment and infrastructure.

FTA between Serbia and China will create a favorable environment and provide a strong guarantee for the development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and Serbia is willing to work with China to promote the FTA negotiations, Momirovic said.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn