Serbia Eyes Benefits of Scrapping Visas with China

Serbia's proposal that China and Serbia abolish visas between the two countries could lead to a boom in tourism to Serbia, former Serbian ambassador to China Slobodan Unkovic said.

"If this proposal passes, combined with the proposal to open Belgrade-Beijing flights and a Belgrade-Shanghai link, it could lead to the major boost in Serbian tourism," Unkovic told BIRN on Monday.

He said the plan would be especially important for tourism since the Chinese spent over 180 billion US dollars on traveling abroad this year.

Serbia announced on Sunday that it would suggest the abolition of visas for stays under 30 days. Attending the Serbian government session, Chinese Ambassador Li Manchang said he was convinced that the government in Beijing would agree to the proposal.

"This plan is in accordance with the continuity of the good relationship between Serbia and China and with the documents signed during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-June," said Unkovic.

During the three-day June visit of the Chinese delegation to Serbia, led by President Jinping, the two countries signed 22 agreements on business relations designed to boost Serbia's weak economy.

Nikola Jovanovic, of the Belgrade-based Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, CIRSD, said that if the proposal is accepted, it could boost commercial exchanges as well as tourism.

"Serbia could become an important junction for China's investments in Southeast Europe. Potentially, this is good news for Serbia but we have to see if Serbia fits into China's global investment project," he told BIRN.

Jovanovic said he hoped the planned abolition of visas would be realized, as it would be another milestone in the developing relationship between...