Largest Chinese business association coming to Serbia – Chinese Chamber of Commerce initiates establishment of representative office in Belgrade

The Chamber of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, which brings together more than 300,000 companies, will soon be opened in Belgrade. At a meeting in Beijing, the President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Ren Hongbin, officially informed the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS), Marko Cadez, that the formal procedure for establishing a representative office of that business association in Serbia had begun, the CCIS announced.

After meeting with Hongbin, with whom he opened a large forum for the “Belt and Road” initiative, Cadez said that the arrival of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce opened up enormous opportunities for cooperation between the Serbian economy and China.

– What is perhaps the most important and the best news that we bring from this Road and Belt forum is that the Chamber of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China has begun the procedure for opening a representative office in Belgrade. This is important news, we have been working on this for some time. Today we received this information from our friend, the President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Ren Hongbin. He is very happy that the Chamber of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China will be in Belgrade and will communicate with the entire region from here – said the President of the CCIS.

Cadez emphasized that in his conversation with his colleague Hongbin, he had spoken about Serbia being a “smart crossroads” in the new chapter of the development of the “Belt and Road” initiative, because the country was already recognized as a major regional center of innovative startups and IT companies.

– We talked about raising the Belt and Road Initiative to a higher level, how to integrate more deeply when it comes to the green economy, sustainability and, above all, digitalization. This is where Serbia has its place and it is a great honor that our Chinese friends have recognized the potential of our country to be a kind of “smart crossroads,” a smart intersection – said Cadez.

The President of the CCIS reminds that Serbia was the only country invited to open this conference together with the President of the Chamber of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, which is a great honor. He added that he and his Chinese counterpart Hongbin also discussed other issues related to strengthening cooperation at the meeting, including the participation of the People’s Republic of China in the specialized exhibition EXPO 2027 in Belgrade. As he points out, Hongbin is directly responsible for the participation of the People’s Republic of China in this exhibition, and it is expected that the Chinese pavilion will be one of the most impressive.

– We have agreed on many new things. In three weeks, we will be in China again and we will discuss the Land and Sea International Trade Corridor, whose founders we are together with 18 other countries and where we are recognized as the initiator of the digitalization of that corridor. When it comes to digital cooperation between institutes, accelerators, startup systems, it was agreed that this will be coordinated from Serbia, which is a great honor for us – said Cadez.

The China Chamber of Commerce, which operates under the auspices of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, brings together more than 300,000 companies, including the most important state-owned companies, national financial institutions, as well as a large number of well-known private and foreign-invested enterprises. All this makes it one of the most influential business associations in the PRC and the world.

This organization has a network of over 800 local and industrial associations throughout the PRC, which further expands the organization’s reach and influence. The China International Chamber of Commerce has its representative offices at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Italy, France, Poland and Russia. It will soon open a representative office in Serbia, which has increased its exports by more than 50 percent after the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement. Chinese companies in Serbia employ about 30,000 workers.

Privredna komora Srbije

CCIS

China Chamber of Commerce

Marko Čadež

Ren Hongbin

representative office of China Chamber of Commerce in Belgrade