CIFIT serves as a platform for learning and connecting with China and the wider world for Serbian businesses: chamber head

CIFIT serves as a platform for learning and connecting with China and the wider world for Serbian businesses: chamber head

A glimpse of the Serbian pavilion at the 26th CIFIT in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, on September 9, 2026 Photo: Yin Yeping/GTThe China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) is more than an exhibition, as it acts as a platform for learning about and connecting with China and the wider world for Serbian businesses, Jelena Grubor Stefanovic, director of the representative office of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, told the Global Times at the ongoing CIFIT, the annual investment fair for China, held in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province.The remarks were made as Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Adrijana Mesarovic visited Xiamen with a delegation to participate in the CIFIT, a platform in which Serbian businesses have participated for seven years since 2019, the Global Times learned.Over the years, for Serbian businesses, the CIFIT has become one of the most important platforms in China for promoting investment, and keeping Serbia visible on the global investment map, Stefanovic told the Global Times,There are already concrete results from this year's CIFIT. During the event, the Serbian government and Xiamen Airlines signed a strategic cooperation memorandum aimed at expanding cooperation in aviation, agriculture and tourism, according to Stefanovic. Serbian food products are also being introduced into the local retail market via the CIFIT.An investment promotion conference targeting Serbian companies, which was also held at this year's CIFIT, brought together Chinese companies to discuss a new generation of potential investments.In the first half of this year, China-Serbia bilateral trade reached $4.37 billion, up 45.5 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs, with both imports and exports recording double-digit growth.The China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 2024, has become an important driver of economic ties."China is one of Serbia's most important investment partners, but we now see the relationship entering a new phase," said Stefanovic. She said that the greatest potential lies in a wide range of sectors, including advanced manufacturing, green energy and clean technologies, the automotive and e-mobility sectors, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, biotechnology, food processing and logistics.At a time of rising protectionism, trade restrictions and fragmentation of the global economy, platforms that keep investment, trade and business cooperation open are becoming critical. Stefanovic said that we need stability, as well as leadership guided by a vision of a future that creates opportunities for all."The CIFIT sends a particularly relevant message because it focuses on two-way investment. It creates opportunities for international companies in China, for Chinese companies seeking to expand internationally, and for partnerships between markets around the world," Stefanovic said.Stefanovic said that this matters greatly for Serbia as "we are a relatively small, open and export-oriented economy, and our development depends on remaining connected to international markets, capital, technology and global value chains."Stefanovic said that both China and Serbia have an opportunity to take that relationship further — "from the infrastructure and manufacturing investments that characterized much of the earlier cooperation toward technology, innovation, green development and more sophisticated industrial partnerships."