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31 May 2019

Council President Nikolić talks to Bank of China Executive Vice President

President of the National Council for Coordination of Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China Tomislav Nikolić talked today in Belgrade with Executive Vice President of the Bank of China Mr. Lin Jingzhen.

 Council President Nikolić talks to Bank of China Executive Vice President

Photograph: National Council

“Serbia and China have forged extraordinarily friendly relations, while building mutual trust. The victory of President Xi Jinping has marked an upswing in our bilateral relations, which resulted in our “steel-strong” friendship, as it is often described, growing stronger and stronger owing to direct Chinese investments. The people of China and the people of Serbia are friends, and it is in cooperation with China that we see opportunities for our own prosperity as well. The role played by the Bank of China in MSC Bor privatization has been invaluable. I would like to see the Bank of China Serbia expanding its business policy to include both retail and corporate banking”, Council President Nikolić underlined.

“The Bank of China delegation, which I am leading today, is visiting Serbia to research the market, analyze Bank of China Serbia business operations, and explore the opportunities for their promotion. Ever since its opening, which you attended in person, the Bank of China has achieved significant results, the latest being the MSC Bor privatization by Zijin. For the time being, the Bank of China works with the Chinese companies investing in Serbia, including HBIS, Zijin and others. The aim is to increase the number of clients in a practical, legal and fast way, to have Serbian companies among its clients, too, and to forge cooperation with new Serbian companies, while deepening collaboration with the existing partners. Our development strategy is to expand to other countries and turn the Bank of China Serbia into the principal bank for the Balkans, while making more investments in this region.

The Bank of China uses the “16+1” mechanism and the Shanghai import-export fair to form a bridge between small and medium-sized enterprises in China and Serbia. We hope that our concerted efforts will boost economic growth in Serbia, that the Bank of China Serbia will jump-start Serbia’s economic development by paying taxes and employing local staff. I will request our Serbian Bank’s team to examine and analyze in detail the possibilities for retail banking”, Mr. Lin Jingzhen underlined.