STORY: Serbian, Chinese companies ink contracts worth half bln USD
DATELINE: June 17, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:43
LOCATION: Belgrade
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of signing ceremony at a business forum in Belgrade
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Serbian): GORAN VESIC, Serbia's Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LI XINGQIAN, Director general of the Department of Foreign Trade of China's Ministry of Commerce
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): CHEN BO, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia
5. various of signing ceremony at a business forum in Belgrade

STORYLINE:

Serbian and Chinese companies signed contracts worth over 510 million U.S. dollars at a business forum in Belgrade, the Serbian government said in a press release on Thursday.

The signing of over 10 agreements between Chinese and Serbian companies was overseen by representatives from the two countries.

A dozen Chinese enterprises in areas including agri-food, chemicals, mineral resources, wood processing, and services, attended the forum.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Serbian): GORAN VESIC, Serbia's Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure
"We expect that a free trade agreement between our countries will be signed by the end of the year, after which there will be many more such events, as well as an opportunity for Serbian companies to take their share of the Chinese market."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LI XINGQIAN, Director general of the Department of Foreign Trade of China's Ministry of Commerce
"We support the promotion of Serbia's advantage products in China. We are willing to help the Serbian companies tap into the Chinese market."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): CHEN BO, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia
"Over the past 10 years, under the Belt and Road Initiative, China and Serbia have given full play to their complementary advantages, actively carried out mutually beneficial cooperation, continuously expanded two-way opening-up, and achieved remarkable growth in bilateral trade."

Official data showed that bilateral trade hit 6.14 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, of which Serbia's exports amounted to 1.1 billion dollars.

China-Serbia trade in agricultural and food products increased from 14.2 million dollars in 2015 to 55.5 million dollars in 2022.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Belgrade.
(XHTV)