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Mingcheng Precision Technology Co Ltd obtains seven certificates of origin under the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement. [Photo/jiaxingren.com]

The China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement officially came into effect on June 1, marking the first such agreement between China and a Central and Eastern European country. This milestone is expected to significantly enhance trade relations between the two nations.

Mingcheng Precision Technology Co Ltd, based in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, obtained the province's first batch of seven certificates of origin under the China-Serbia FTA through self-printing. The company's bolt and nut exports, valued at 1.87 million yuan ($257,182), are now ready to be shipped to Serbia.

Previously, Serbian imports of Chinese carbon steel fasteners were subject to an 8-percent import tariff. Under the new FTA, the tariff for the first year has been reduced to 7.2 percent, saving the company 15,000 yuan in duties for this shipment. Over the next decade, the import tariff on Chinese carbon steel fasteners in Serbia will gradually be reduced to zero.

Xu Huiqin, deputy general manager of Mingcheng, highlighted the importance of Serbia as a key export market. The company's exports to Serbia in the first half of the year amounted to over 20 million yuan, up 170 percent year-on-year. With the FTA now in effect, Serbian customers have already placed additional orders worth 20 million yuan for the second half of the year, expecting to benefit from 160,000 yuan in tariff reductions.

From January to May, Zhejiang's total trade with Serbia reached 2.25 billion yuan, a surge of 40.2 percent year-on-year. With the FTA's implementation, China and Serbia will gradually eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of products over 10 years, with over 60 percent of tariffs being immediately reduced to zero.