The China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) officially took effect on July 1, 2024. It was the first FTA signed between China and a Central and Eastern European country. According to the customs statistics, Hunan Province's foreign trade volume to Serbia amounted to 510 million CNY in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 121%.

After the implementation of the FTA, China and Serbia will gradually eliminate tariffs on 90% of the tariff lines respectively, of which more than 60% will be eliminated immediately on the day when the agreement enters into force, a person in charge of Changsha Customs Tariff Division said.

The main products exported from Hunan to Serbia include vehicle lighting parts, drilling machinery parts, electric motors, aluminum foil, pocket gas lighters, and porcelain tableware, all of which are covered by the Serbian tariff concessions to China. For example, the Serbian side has immediately reduced the base tariff level of the imported vehicle lighting device parts from 5% to zero, since the day of the agreement coming into force. The export value of the products reached 13.305 million CNY between January and May this year. It was expected that the annual tariff concessions of 1.6 million CNY can be enjoyed from the Serbian side.

"Hunan-based foreign trade enterprises are suggested to pay close attention to the FTA tariff reduction policy, and learn about the tariff reduction arrangements for the products concerned, rules of origin, and the conditions for the use of the certificate of origin, making full use of the agreement's tax reduction policy dividends," said a person in charge of the Changsha Customs.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn