China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement Officially Comes Into Effect!

The entry into force of the agreement will effectively promote China-Serbia economic and trade cooperation

The entry into force of the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement will further stimulate the potential of trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, help improve the quality and upgrade of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and bring benefits to the enterprises and people of the two countries.

After the entry into force of the agreement, the two sides will gradually cancel tariffs on 90% of the tariff items, of which more than 60% of the tariff items will be immediately canceled on the day the agreement takes effect. The final import volume of zero-tariff tariff items of both sides will reach about 95%. At the same time, the agreement has established institutional arrangements in many areas such as rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, dispute settlement, intellectual property protection, investment cooperation, competition, etc., which will provide a more convenient, transparent and stable business environment for enterprises in the two countries.

After the entry into force of the agreement, when my country's automobiles, photovoltaic modules, lithium batteries, communication equipment, mechanical equipment, refractory materials and some agricultural and aquatic products enter the Serbian market, the import tariffs will be gradually reduced from the current 5% to 20% to zero. When Serbian generators, motors, tires, beef, wine, nuts and other products enter the Chinese market, import tariffs will also be gradually reduced from the current 5% to 20% to zero.

This will not only promote the growth of bilateral trade and enable consumers of both countries to enjoy more, better and more preferential imported products, but will also promote investment cooperation and industrial chain integration between the two sides, better play their respective comparative advantages, and jointly enhance international competitiveness.

At the same time, the level of trade facilitation between the two countries will be further improved. Serbia is applying to join the WTO and is not yet a member of the WTO. However, in the fields of rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, dispute settlement, etc., both sides promised that the relevant rights, obligations and measures should comply with the requirements of WTO rules, and made more clear and detailed provisions on this basis. Both sides promised to deepen customs cooperation, strengthen information exchange and communication and coordination, and make specific provisions on simplifying trade procedures, risk management, transparency, pre-determination, "certified economic operator" system, cooperation and consultation, etc., especially introducing autonomous declaration of origin to facilitate enterprises to enjoy benefits. These institutional arrangements and exchange and cooperation mechanisms will create a more convenient, transparent and stable business environment for enterprises of the two countries to carry out trade and investment cooperation.

If you'd like to get more details, Please contact me!

Alina Shen 

E-mail address: jztg0115@163.com & alina@tiegong.net

M.P/Whatsapp/Wechat: +8618341633378

M.P: +8615041639960