In Belgrade, China accounted for about 11% of Serbia’s goods trade in 2025, becoming its second-largest trading partner, while the European Union remained by far its dominant market and source of investment, according to the European Commission’s Serbia 2026 Report.
China’s share exceeded that of CEFTA countries, at 9%, and Türkiye, at 4.5%. This placed China ahead of both in Serbia’s goods trade in 2025.
Trade with China is driven mainly by Serbian imports of industrial goods and exports of copper ore. It also gives Serbia access to capital, equipment and a large market outside the European Union. That access does not alter Serbia’s economic dependence on Europe.
European Union standards, carbon rules and market access will continue to shape operating conditions for most major Serbian exporters. Companies producing in Serbia will increasingly need to meet EU requirements when their final market is European.
Serbia’s strategic challenge is to use diversified trade without creating incompatible regulatory or supply-chain structures.
