According to the Serbian business publication Parametar, Serbia’s investment landscape has changed significantly over the past 15 years. While European capital dominated almost unchallenged in the early 2010s, China has now become the largest investor among individual countries.
Between 2010 and 2025, Serbia attracted approximately 47.5 billion euros in foreign direct investment. Between 2010 and 2024 alone, EU countries accounted for about 24.5 billion euros, or 56% of all FDI.
During this period, China invested about 7.17 billion euros, surpassing any single European country. Next among the largest sources of capital are Russia—about 3.15 billion euros, Switzerland—2.52 billion euros, the United Kingdom—2.14 billion euros, and the United States—about 1 billion euros.
Moreover, China’s surge has essentially taken place over the past eight years. About 96% of Chinese investments between 2010 and 2023 occurred after 2016. In 2022, China invested approximately 1.38 billion euros; in 2023, 1.37 billion euros; and in 2024, 1.63 billion euros.
The main distinction of Chinese capital is its focus on large industrial facilities.
HBIS controls the steel mill in Smederevo, Zijin has become a key player in the Bora copper-gold complex, and Linglong has built a tire plant in Zrenjanin. HBIS Serbia and Serbia Zijin Copper are both among the country’s largest exporters.
That said, it would be incorrect to claim that China has displaced Europe from Serbia at this point. Total EU investment is approximately 3.4 times greater than that of China. European capital is distributed among thousands of companies, banks, retail chains, and manufacturing facilities, whereas Chinese investments are much more heavily concentrated in a few giant projects.
Another important trend is that the investment boom has begun to slow down. After a record 5.23 billion euros in foreign direct investment in 2024, the inflow in 2025 fell by about one-third—to 3.48 billion euros.
As a result, a unique two-tier investment model has emerged in Serbia: the EU remains the top investor as an economic bloc, while China has already become the top investor among individual countries. In fact, the structure of foreign investment increasingly mirrors Belgrade’s multi-vector foreign economic policy.
