“Long live the friendship between China and Serbia!”
“中塞友谊万岁！”
“Welcome Serbian friends to visit China!”
“欢迎‘塞铁’们来中国做客！”
“A big thank you to our steel-clad friends from Serbia, we will progress together in the future!”
“非常感谢塞尔维亚的朋友，未来我们会共同进步的！”
On the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Serbia for a state visit on May 7 (local time), Chinese netizens on May 8 (Beijing Time) flooded video websites to leave blessings for Serbia, filling the comment section of “Serbian National Pavilion” with warmth and goodwill.
当地时间5月7日，国家主席习近平抵达塞尔维亚进行国事访问。紧接着，北京时间5月8日，中国网友们纷纷前往视频网站，在塞尔维亚国家馆的视频评论区写下对塞尔维亚的祝福。
This overwhelming enthusiasm amazed Guo Xiao, “helmsman” of the account and general manager of Ningbo Xiangmiao Technology Co., Ltd. “The bond between China and Serbia runs incredibly deep in the hearts of young people in China!” concluded Guo.
这份溢于言表的热情，让该账号的“掌舵人”、宁波祥淼科技有限公司总经理郭晓感慨万千：“在中国的年轻人心目中，中塞两国的情谊竟如此深入人心！”
Guo, an overseas Chinese person who returned from Serbia, has been engaging in import trade in Ningbo since 2017. Started in 2022, the “Serbian National Pavilion” video account he manages boomed to 396,000 fans within just two years, and has evolved into a gateway for China’s Generation Z to learn about Serbian culture.
郭晓是一位塞尔维亚归国华侨，2017年开始在宁波从事进口贸易。他告诉记者，视频网站的“塞尔维亚国家馆”账号从2022年开始运营，短短2年，已积累39.6万名粉丝，成为中国“Z世代”青年了解塞尔维亚的文化交流窗口。
“We usually post about captivating scenery, delectable food, sporting events, as well as political and business updates of Serbia,” Guo explained. “During the daytime on May 8, we released 8 videos in a row, notably with one titled Serbia warmly welcomes friends from China receiving over 32,000 views, demonstrating the keen interest of China’s netizens in exploring Serbia.”
“我们会推送一些塞尔维亚的美景美食、体育赛事、政商动态。5月8日白天，我们一连推送8条视频，其中一条‘塞尔维亚热烈欢迎中国朋友’的视频，已获得超3.2万点击量，可见年轻网友对这个‘宝藏国家’充满好奇。”郭晓表示。
The attention from China’s netizens towards Serbia also led to a surge in the demand for Serbian products.
网友们对“塞铁”的关注，也“带火”了塞尔维亚商品。
On May 7 alone, Guo affirmed, sales at the JD Serbian National Pavilion surpassed 100,000 yuan, with bestsellers including items like Tesla red wine, wild cherry juice, and coffee. “Furthermore, in the first quarter of this year, our imports of small-packaged fresh grape wine from Serbia surged by 5.4 times year-on-year.”
郭晓称，5月7日，京东塞尔维亚国家馆当天的销量突破10万元，特斯拉红酒、野樱莓原液、咖啡等产品均成为爆款，“不仅如此，今年一季度，我们自塞尔维亚进口的小包装鲜葡萄酿造酒数量同比增长了5.4倍。”
Aside from earning money by providing goods, Guo has been making a push to promote Serbian tourism and culture. Leveraging commercial complexes in over 30 cities across China, the travel agency he established two years ago offers economic travel routes in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to Chinese enthusiasts. Signature travel packages include 5-day immersive tours to Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, emphasizing both coastal landscapes and cultural experience.
在接住“泼天富贵”的同时，郭晓还在努力让塞尔维亚的文旅“出圈”。前年，他专门成立旅行社，依托布局在全国30多个城市的商业综合体，向中国消费者推荐高性价比的中东欧旅游路线——如黑山、波黑、塞尔维亚5日深度游，既有滨海风光，又有人文情怀。
“Recently, we have been receiving daily inquiries about CEECs tourism from between 10 to 20 consumers,” Guo introduced. “We want to ‘lure’ more people to Serbia, where they can feel the beautiful nightlife of Belgrade, savor exquisite red wines, and visit historical sites.”
“最近，我们平均每天就能收到10-20位消费者咨询中东欧旅游的事宜。我们希望吸引更多人去塞尔维亚旅游，感受贝尔格莱德的‘最美夜生活’，一边品尝红酒，一边打卡历史遗迹。”郭晓称。
At the same time, Guo is also striving to advance Ningbo’s business activities with Serbian entities. Backed by Ningbo’s policy advantages as a demonstration zone for economic and trade cooperation between China and CEECs and its geographical edge as a “gateway to the world”, he endeavors to attract Serbia’s leading logistics companies to branch out into Ningbo, and plans visits for Serbian entrepreneurs so that they may embrace Ningbo and plow new business ground.
同时，郭晓还在努力推动宁波和塞尔维亚间的经贸合作，借助宁波作为中国—中东欧国家经贸合作示范区的政策优势和“港通天下”的地利之便，吸引塞尔维亚头部物流企业落户，并组织塞尔维亚企业家来宁波参观考察，寻找更多商机。
Journalist: Yan Jin
Translators: Pan Wenjie,
Qiu Jilin(intern)
Proofreaders: Yao Zhanhong,
Huang Dawang, Jason Mowbray