Serbia signs water infrastructure cooperation deal with China's Sinohydro
BELGRADE (Serbia), April 12 (SeeNews) - Serbia's agriculture ministry said on Wednesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company Sinohydro for the development of water infrastructure in the country.
The agriculture ministry and Sinohydro will jointly analyse the state of water infrastructure in Serbia and prepare the necessary studies for potential investments and projects in the sector, the ministry said in a statement.
The MoU follows the signing of an agreement on economic and technical cooperation in the field of infrastructure between Serbia and China in 2009, the ministry added.
In November, the Serbian government signed a 207 million euro ($220 million) deal with Sinohydro's parent Power Construction Corporation of China (PCCC) for the construction of the 19.5 kilometre-long Ostruznicki bridge-Bubanj Potok section of the Belgrade bypass road.
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Belgrade most popular destination at Shanghai World Travel Fair
The City of Belgrade won the award for the most popular tourist destination at the recently finished Shanghai World Travel Fair. The award was handed out in Shanghai to Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali. This fair is one of the leading events in the field of tourism in China, Beoinfo reports.
– This is great news for Belgrade and Serbia and a confirmation of our efforts to draw as many Chinese tourists to Belgrade as possible. In the first three months of 2017, there were 100% more Chinese tourists than in the corresponding period of 2016. This is a trend that will continue in the coming months and a good foundation for further efforts. We have recently set up info display stands throughout the city, featuring information in Chinese as well. The website of the Tourist Organization of Belgrade has a section in Chinese and the website of the City of Belgrade will also be translated into Chinese in two weeks – Mali pointed out and added that the City of Belgrade strove to do as much as possible in order to make Chinese tourists feel at home.
He emphasizes that the relations of Serbia and China are at a remarkably high level, all of which contributes to the establishment of strong ties between the two nations.
– Serbia is the only country in Europe to have a visa-free regime with the citizens of China, and we are also working on establishing a direct Belgrade-Beijing route. All this leads to an increase of the number of tourists in Belgrade, not just those from China, but from other countries as well – Mali concluded.
The fair features 750 exhibitors from 53 states, and the number of visitors has been estimated at 50,000.
http://www.ekapija.com/website/en/p...lar-destination-at-Shanghai-World-Travel-Fair
Chinese investment in Serbia will be 10 bln dollars
Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang said that Serbia used the opportunity to improve cooperation with China announcing that the total volume of Chinese investment in the current and announced projects will be 10 billion dollars.
“Some other countries in the Balkans have shown ‘envy’ towards Serbia, which took the opportunity to promote cooperation with China. I think that Serbia has taken the lead in this regard and that other European countries may follow this path,” Li said in an interview for “China Daily”.
It is, as he says, mainly due to the fact that the Serbian leadership understood the importance of the initiative “Belt and road”, and the two sides in 2015 signed a memorandum of cooperation.
Li pointed out that the Prime Minister and newly elected President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the current head of state, Tomislav Nikolic repeatedly stressed that the initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping 2013 will help the world economy out of stagnation after the global financial crisis in 2008.
“So, a leading Serbian leaders have called for their country to take advantage of the opportunity to find synergies with the initiative,” said Li.
Recalling that the bridge from Zemun to Borca over the Danube is the first Chinese bridge in Europe, Ambassador Li said that the reconstruction of the railway line between Belgrade and Budapest will be the first that the Chinese will work on on the old continent.
This project will start, as is expected, during the year because the European Commission has finished checking the loan agreement.
According to Li, the Chinese companies are currently involved in the construction of highway and power plant in Serbia and the Belgrade bypass.
They are also working to improve facilities for the treatment of waste water and district heating network, a few Chinese companies are competing to win a contract on the project of building the plant, and the total value of the investment is 900 million dollars.
After signing a memorandum of cooperation, the two sides hope to sign a contract until the end of the year so the work could begin the next year, said Li.
China Daily reports words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, Vucic will lead the Serbian delegation at the Forum on International Cooperation “Belt and road” to be held in June in Beijing, saying that it testifies to the importance that our country attaches to the initiative of a global character.
Dacic said that Serbia wants as closer connection with the world and that in this context Serbia wants even greater momentum of cooperation with China in terms of investment in infrastructure so Serbia could become an important regional transport hub, according to the Chinese list.
https://inserbia.info/today/2017/04/chinese-investment-in-serbia-will-be-10-bln-dollars/
Chinese interested in Serbian food
Serbia will soon be able to export its food to China. Serbian Agriculture Minister, Branislav Nedimovic is going to sing today a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).
The Memorandum stipulates issuing guarantees relating to safety of food intended for import and export. Prior to initialing the Memorandum, Chinese officials visited several Serbian food companies, including Mitros from Sremska Mitrovica, to see where the food would be coming from.
„Тhe Chinese delegation has visited certain production companies in Serbia and they brought here all the people required to reach an agreement regarding relevant procedures and permits. They said that the standards applied in the companies they had visited were excellent“, the Ministry of Agriculture says.
“The Chinese food market is the biggest in the world. The Memorandum that we are going to sign is important because it guarantees the safety of imported and exported food and it also protects the health of consumers. Ministry of Agriculture is also going to send today to the line Chinese ministry a filled questionnaire that contains risk assessment regarding the export of meat products to China. The questionnaire is a part of the procedure for issuing an export certificate. After they check the questionnaire, the Chinese side is going to send inspectors to those companies which products they are interested in”, the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture explains.
The agreement on importing and exporting is only the beginning. Chinese investors are also interested in acquiring land to build their own processing facilities and export to China. Furthermore, the Serbian officials are going to discuss with their Chinese counterparts the protocols regarding milk, dairy products, and infant formula. Serbia is also interested in exporting other types of meat and pet food to China.
http://serbianmonitor.com/en/economy/33801/chinese-interested-serbian-food/
Chinese locomotive arrives in Serbia
SERBIA: The first of two CRRC Zhuzhou locomotives ordered by state electricity generator Elektroprivreda Srbije in April 2016 has arrived in Obrenovac, after being shipped from China to the Romanian port of Constanța then by continuing by river to Sremska Mitrovica.
The 7 MW six-axle CRRC Zhuzhou locomotive with a maximum speed of 140 km/h is built to confirm with European Technical Specifications for Interoperability. It will be used on the dedicated 25 kV 50 Hz electrified rail network which Elektroprivreda Srbije uses to transport lignite from the Kolubara opencast mines to the Nikola Tesla power stations.
The line carries around 25 million tonnes per year, significantly more than the national railway. Trains are currently hauled using Končar Class 411 and Škoda Class 443 electric locomotives, and several types of diesel locomotive are used for shunting. There is also a 5 km network of 900 mm gauge lines.
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/...iew/chinese-locomotive-arrives-in-serbia.html
Serbia takes initiative to future ambitions
The Balkan country sees China's 'new Silk Road' as a means of achieving growth via greater involvement in its home region and across the globe.
Editor's Note: This is the sixth in a series of reports focusing on the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's proposed extensive trading route linking Asia, Europe and Africa.
With a population of 7 million, roughly the same as a number of Chinese cities, Serbia will enjoy rapid economic growth, climbing from last year's 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent in 2019, according to the World Bank.
The bank's latest updates suggest the Balkan country's prospects are even rosier than those of the European Union economies, which will average about 2 percent a year.
The promising outlook is partly a result of the country's plan to become a regional transportation hub, which has seen Serbia deepen investment in roads, rails, the expansion of urban infrastructure and even construction of high-tech business parks－similar to the growth engines used in a number of cities in China.
Chinese investors have contributed to the rising level of investment.
"The scale of China's investment in ongoing projects and in the pipeline totals about $10 billion," Li Manchang, China's ambassador to Serbia, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily in Belgrade, the capital.
Li said the developments are mainly the result of the Serbian leadership's recognition of the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation in 2015.
Citing Serbia's President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is also president-elect, Li said they have repeatedly emphasized that the initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, will help the world economy emerge from stagnation after the 2008 global financial crisis.
"So, Serbia's top leaders urged their country to grasp the opportunity to find synergies with the initiative," he said.
Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, confirmed that Vucic will head the country's delegation at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing next month.
"This speaks volumes about the importance Serbia attaches to this significant initiative of global character," he said.
Nikolic paid a state visit to China earlier this year, following President Xi's visit to the Balkan country in June. He also attended a ceremony in Beijing in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
Dacic is looking forward to the start of direct flights between Serbia and China, which are under discussion, while special prominence has been given to the construction of a high-speed rail link between Belgrade and Budapest, the Hungarian capital, which will form a pioneering transportation network along the land-sea link between China and Europe.
"This is an opportunity for regional development, the greater sale of goods and the flow of goods and people," he said.
He added that Serbia aspires to have the closest possible connections with the world: "In that context, we want to see even stronger cooperation momentum with China in infrastructure investment to make Serbia the regional transportation hub."
In response, Li referred to several "firsts" in bilateral cooperation. He noted that the first bridge built by the Chinese in Europe is located on the Serbian stretch of the River Danube, and the high-speed railway linking Belgrade and Budapest will be the first on the continent to be built by the Chinese. The project is expected to be started within the year, once the European Commission completes supervision of loan agreements. Moreover, Serbia was the first country to grant Chinese passport holders visa-free entry for stays of up to 30 days.
According to Li, Chinese companies are building highways and electricity generation plants in Serbia, and Chinese investors have already signed a contract with Belgrade's municipal government for construction of a ring road in the city.
Chinese companies are also working to improve Belgrade's wastewater treatment facilities and heating network. Meanwhile, a number of Chinese businesses are vying to win a contract to construct an electricity generation project, which has total investment of $900 million.
China will also help to construct an industrial park covering 300 hectares in its first phase, Li said, adding that having signed the memorandum of cooperation, both sides are hoping to sign an agreement by the end of the year to pave the way for ground to be broken next year.
"Some other Balkan countries have shown 'envy' towards Serbia, which has taken the opportunity of enhancing cooperation with China," he said. "I think Serbia has taken the lead in that regard, and other European countries may follow suit."
According to Branislav Djordjevic, director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, given the political and economic situation in the Balkans, it is easy to see how important participation in the Belt and the Road Initiative is, not only for Serbia but for all countries in the region.
He said the institute has long been interested in China, but interest really surged after the conclusion of a strategic partnership between the two countries in 2009. Now, great attention is being focused on the Belt and Road Initiative, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.
"It is an old truth that prosperity brings peace and stability," he said, adding that the initiative has helped Serbia become more qualified as an EU member. "Since many countries are looking for EU membership, it would be easier for them to be absorbed as economically and politically stable entities. With certain necessary adjustments, combined with the synergies of the Belt and Road Initiative, Serbia could be an engine of progress."
Radosav Pusic, dean of the Confucius Institute in Belgrade, was in full agreement with that view. He said Serbia is a small Balkan country and at critical moments in history, it has been a hostage to fortune.
"When great powers play games, small countries suffer. Belgrade has been destroyed more than 40 times, and we even suffered wars in the 1990s," he said.
The country's economy stagnated for several years after NATO's military action against Serbia ended in the late 1990s, and the 2008 global financial crisis made things even harder. Those difficulties resulted in many young people leaving the country.
Pusic said this is a "historic moment" for Serbia because the country's economic and investment activities with China have become more frequent than ever, thanks to the cooperation framework for the Belt and Road Initiative.
"This is the result of a firmer political and strategic partnership between the countries, which has laid solid foundations for other encounters," said Pusic, a renowned scholar who has written or translated 30 books about classic Chinese literature, poetry and philosophy. He is currently writing a book about the history of ancient Chinese philosophy.
"Against this background, many people in Serbia have shown an interest in the Belt and Road Initiative," he said. "But if it had been raised 10 years ago, recognition would not have been that easy."
Greater efforts will be required, especially on the cultural and publicity fronts, he said.
"The initiative is a concept with tremendous significance, and it offers another perspective to learn more about China. I will do more to help Serbians understand China's traditional culture."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-04/25/content_29081204.htm
