BELGRADE, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Local media reports and experts believe that Serbia's participation in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation has strengthened the country's economic ties with China, gave a boost to trade exchanges between the two countries and promoted further profitable joint investments in manufacturing.

In Beijing, the Serbian delegation led by President Aleksandar Vucic signed more than ten agreements with China during the forum held on Oct. 17-18. Of these, the China-Serbia free trade agreement elicited the most attention from both the media and experts.

The agreement covers over 10,000 Serbian and 8,500 Chinese products. The first shipment of goods with reduced or zero taxes is expected to arrive from Serbia to China in the middle of next year, Serbia's national broadcaster RTS reported.

This agreement is expected to encourage Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in production capacities for exporting goods from Serbia to other markets, noted Jelena Grubor, a representative of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia based in Shanghai, China.

Media reports indicate that the agreement has also captured the interest of European investors, as they foresee the possibility of exporting goods to China at a 30 percent reduced cost by utilizing production facilities in Serbia.

Lubodrag Savic, a professor at the Faculty of Economy of the University of Belgrade, welcomed the free trade agreement as a significant development opportunity for the Serbian economy and businessmen. He noted that a large market is opening, with customs relief for some agricultural products, which will initially make Serbian products more affordable than products from other European countries.

Savic said that cooperation with China is helpful for Serbia's economic and political stability. He predicted that Serbia would continue to be an attractive destination for direct investments from China thanks to its beneficial trade agreements with the European Union (EU).

According to official data, more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have joined the BRI and signed more than 230 cooperation documents. The BRI has also galvanized nearly 1 trillion U.S. dollars worth of investment globally, lifted 40 million people out of poverty and created a large number of jobs.

Serbia's former Ambassador to China Slobodan Unkovic pointed to the HBIS Serbia steelworks, founded in 2016 following the acquisition of Serbia's Smederevo Steelworks by China's HeSteel Group (HBIS), and the Zijin mines, where China's Zijin Mining Group became a significant shareholder of Serbia's copper mining and smelting complex RTB Bor in 2018, as examples of the BRI's benefits for the Serbian industry.

Unkovic also commended the progress in road and energy infrastructure, as well as in cultural exchanges between the two countries.

"Our country aspires to become a part of the European Union, and there are highly developed economic relations between China and the countries of the European Union. China is irreplaceable, considering its overall potential, not only in the economy but also in all other areas," Unkovic said.

Jovan Cavoski, senior research associate at the Institute for Recent History of Serbia, highlighted the BRI as a new China-led globalization model.

"Each country should always protect its own interests and, at the same time, strive to achieve the best possible relations with such a large and influential country as China. This will allow them to diversify their political and economic relations on a global scale," Cavoski said.

In addition to the free trade agreement, the Serbian delegation signed numerous agreements related to economic ties and BRI cooperation, including agreements for the purchase of Chinese high-speed trains.

"We used to have great expectations. Today, I can say that we can have even bigger expectations," Vucic told Xinhua during the forum.

"I believe that will continue with the same pace on the same path with the very best results and for the benefits of our peoples," he said. Enditem

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