23 April 2019

Council President Nikolić opens a Beijing business forum on Serbia-based investment projects

President of the National Council for Coordination of Cooperation with the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China Tomislav Nikolić opened today in Beijing a business forum on Serbia-based investment projects, hosting Chinese companies interested in investing in Serbia in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, transport and agriculture.

Photograph: National Council

Council President Nikolić underlined that the modern Sino-Serbian cooperation was strategic. “Serbia is China’s genuine friend and partner looking forward to its daily progress. Being its comprehensive strategic partner, Serbia is rising together with China. Today’s business forum brings together Chinese companies which used to work, are still working or are yet to do so in Serbia. Here we also have among participants a representative from Zijin, one of the largest Chinese investors in Serbia. In addition to investments in MSC Bor and Smederevo Steelworks, China’s Linglong has also invested in tire industry in Zrenjanin, while Mint company invests in automobile spare parts manufacturing in Loznica, whereby we are moving on to a new form of cooperation – joint production for third markets. We are interested in the construction of the Štavalj thermal power plant, a thermal power plant in Kragujevac, an oil refinery in Smederevo, and in cooperation in food production and the banking sector.

Political climate in Serbia is favourable to Chinese investors, for not a single Serbian politician would refuse Chinese investments. During the Second Belt and Road Forum, Serbia and China are about to sign more than ten fresh agreements, including an all-round Bilateral Cooperation Plan.

We expect President Xi Jinping to visit Serbia later this year, which will add fresh impetus to our cooperation. Chinese companies, new investments, new technology, culture and know-how of China are all welcome in Serbia. I invite your companies to invest in Serbia free of care, in order for us to work together and expand our business horizons, Council President Nikolić emphasized.

Chairman of CCPIT Beijing Zhang Yongming underlined that today’s economic forum welcomed a number of Chinese companies with pronounced interest in investing in Serbia. “President of China Xi Jinping emphasized that China and Serbia had special, brotherly relations. Our two countries’ institutions are working wholeheartedly to promote Sino-Serbian economic collaboration. Our Council supports the investments made by Chinese companies in Serbia and we are ready to arrange and endorse the activities of Chinese companies in Serbia and elsewhere. Serbia has a good location, good relations with China’s leadership, a decades-long friendship, and we are here today to discuss joint business opportunities, while looking forward to new business horizons”, Mr. Zhang Yongming highlighted.

The business forum hosted, among others, the following participants: Power China SEDC, Zijin, China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co. Ltd., Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd., China National Technical Import and Export Corporation, Beijing Public Transit Tramway Co. Ltd., Power China Hubei Engineering Co. Ltd., China Railway Material Group Co. Ltd., China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC), China Machinery Engineering Corporation, Shandong Heavy Industry Group, China Light Resources Import and Export Corporation, Wanli Think Tank, China Fortune Land Development, China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation, Niulanshan Distillery Co. Ltd., in Alcoholic Drinks (China), China Petroleum Technology Service Alliance.