On July 12, 2024, Wei ZHANG, Director of Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center (hereinafter referred to as "SCMC") and David CHEN, Vice President of SCMC were invited to visit Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as "CCIS"). They were warmly received by Mr. Vladimir Delic, Deputy Secretary General of CCIS, Mr. Igor Kronia, Adviser to the President of CCIS, Ms. Ivana Bajic, Senior Adviser on China-Serbia trade, and Ms. Tamara Popovic, Senior Adviser at the Center for Mediation Affairs. The two sides had fruitful and in-depth communication on how to further implement the cooperation agreement signed in June this year.

(Group photo of SCMC delegation with Mr. Vladimir Delic)

Serbia is an important partner of China in building the Belt and Road Initiatives. As the largest centuries-old chamber of commerce in the country, CCIS is committed to providing professional and efficient dispute resolution support to its member enterprises. With the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement officially coming into effect on July 1 this year, cross-border diversified dispute resolution mechanism cooperation has received more and more attention. To this end, CCIS and the Permanent Arbitration at the CCIS hope to join hands with SCMC to innovate and promote cooperation in the field of commercial mediation between China and Serbia, escort numerous Chinese and Serbian enterprises to "go out" and "bring in" through an international service platform, better serve the enterprises of the two countries to explore and grasp cooperation opportunities, and promote mutual benefit and win-win in trade and investment.

During the seminar, Mr. Vuk Bojic, Secretary General of the Permanent Arbitration at the CCIS, initiated to establish a Co-ADR working mechanism with SCMC to prospectively integrate their respective resources and expertise to effectively settle the increasingly complex international commercial disputes. Mr. Vuk Bojic, the Secretary General, highly recognized the distinguished ability and international vision of Vice President Chen and warmly invited him to become the first Chinese arbitrator and mediator of the Permanent Arbitration. Vice President Chen welcomed the offer and looked forward to contributing his expertise to the settlement of international commercial disputes between China and Serbia.

(The leaders of SCMC took a group photo with the relevant officials of the CCSI and the Arbitration Court of CCSI)

The leaders of SCMC also visited the Belgrade branch of Zijin Mining Co., LTD., a Chinese-funded enterprise in Serbia, and had in-depth business exchanges with the leaders of the company.

This visit to Serbia is an important measure taken by SCMC to deepen practical cooperation in mediation between China and Serbia, which aims to help the two countries develop common and prosperous economic and trade relations and provide professional legal services for enterprises of the two countries to achieve high quality and win-win cooperation.