Serbia’s economic projects with China totaled around €3 billion, the state-owned Economic Institute in Belgrade announced. In this regard, China is already ahead from Russia of investment volume in the Balkan country.
Beijing has so far invested about €600 million in the related projects. The investments of the Asian giant in Serbia grew on average by €160 and €200 million per year. In 2017, Chinese investors promised €200 million for the construction of a highway around the Serbian capital of Belgrade. They can also build the scheduled railway line between Belgrade and Budapest with a length of 350 kilometres.
In China the interest towards Serbia is rising at a good level. While in 2011 the country was visited by only 12,000 Chinese tourists, their number increased to 43 000 in 2016
Serbia is a main focus of Chinese investments in the area, extending to key sectors of the entire Balkan Peninsula. These include a new bridge on the Danube, a project for a high-speed railway line Belgrade-Budapest, a link between the Montenegrin port of Bar and Belgrade, a new highway in Albania, etc. Only in Piraeus’s port Chinese companies has invested over $4 billion.
Another investment focus is the city of Smederewo, located at around 60 km to the Capital. There Xi has promised to make huge investment in regard to building transport corridor through which Chinese goods can be transferred to the heart of Europe. It’s starting point lies in China, goes through sea to Piraeus and then through the Balkans to its end point – Germany.
The main reason for this interest is that, unlike its neighbours (mainly Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary) Serbia is not obliged to comply with European restrictions. Therefore, the country has been able to bind much more closely to a giant like China, from which both sides experience the win-win scenario.
