Two decades after the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, the Balkan region is still going through a rigorous process of reconstruction and reconciliation. Time has not healed all the wounds in this part of the world yet, but efforts are made, with considerable success, to sustain a culture of cohabitation, and to ensure economic development, as well as political and social stability. China’s increasing activism in this part of the world, while being part of Beijing’s ‘going out’ strategy, is also welcomed by the governments of the countries in question as it brings much needed investment into efforts for economic development. Following Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia earlier this month, Asia Times columnist Dr. Altay Atlı went on a tour of five Balkan countries, observing China’s engagement with the region and the reflections it spurs among the local population.
BELGRADE–If you were driving through Belgrade’s main artery, Arsenija Čarnojevića Boulevard, only a few days after China’s president Xi Jinping did with his entourage, you were surprised probably neither by the billboards celebrating the ‘Serbian-Chinese friendship’ nor by the sight of hundreds of lamp posts lining both sides of the road decorated with the logo of China’s globally powerful telecommunications company Huawei. A small and temporary gesture for a visiting leader, you thought.
But if you had taken a detour from the main road, you would come across larger and permanent signs of Chinese presence in the Serbian capital. In Novi Beograd, the central business district traversed by the boulevard, take a left turn, and you soon arrive at the famous Blok 70 Kineski Tržni Centar, a series of buildings transformed into a gargantuan market that overflows with Chinese products of any imaginable kind.
Serbia is said to be home to around 10,000 Chinese citizens, and most of those in Belgrade are making their living in Blok 70. Or, turn right, towards the direction of Borča on the other side of the Danube. The bridge you will be crossing, Mihajlo Pupin Bridge, was built by China Road and Bridge Corporation, finance provided by the Chinese Eximbank as a low-interest loan to the Serbian government.
China is a major investor in Serbia. Apart from all the retail trade and the 170-million euro bridge on the Danube which happens to be the largest Chinese infrastructure investment in Europe to date, Chinese companies have upgraded a thermal power plant in Kostolac, purchased a steel plant in Smederovo and now modernizing it, they operate automobile and farming machinery factories using Serbia as a production and export base, and they construct parts of the railroad between Belgrade and Budapest.
Huawei, whose logo is decorating Belgrade’s main streets, is not only serving 80% of the country’s users but also investing in technology employing local talents. And more collaboration is on the way. During Xi’s visit, a total of 22 agreements were signed covering a wide range of economic cooperation projects such as currency swaps and joint undertakings in renewable energy, infrastructure construction with a focus on highways and railroads as well as telecommunications.
But if you had taken a detour from the main road, you would come across larger and permanent signs of Chinese presence in the Serbian capital. In Novi Beograd, the central business district traversed by the boulevard, take a left turn, and you soon arrive at the famous Blok 70 Kineski Tržni Centar, a series of buildings transformed into a gargantuan market that overflows with Chinese products of any imaginable kind.
Serbia is said to be home to around 10,000 Chinese citizens, and most of those in Belgrade are making their living in Blok 70. Or, turn right, towards the direction of Borča on the other side of the Danube. The bridge you will be crossing, Mihajlo Pupin Bridge, was built by China Road and Bridge Corporation, finance provided by the Chinese Eximbank as a low-interest loan to the Serbian government.
China is a major investor in Serbia. Apart from all the retail trade and the 170-million euro bridge on the Danube which happens to be the largest Chinese infrastructure investment in Europe to date, Chinese companies have upgraded a thermal power plant in Kostolac, purchased a steel plant in Smederovo and now modernizing it, they operate automobile and farming machinery factories using Serbia as a production and export base, and they construct parts of the railroad between Belgrade and Budapest.
Huawei, whose logo is decorating Belgrade’s main streets, is not only serving 80% of the country’s users but also investing in technology employing local talents. And more collaboration is on the way. During Xi’s visit, a total of 22 agreements were signed covering a wide range of economic cooperation projects such as currency swaps and joint undertakings in renewable energy, infrastructure construction with a focus on highways and railroads as well as telecommunications.
Source; Asia Times
