China and Serbia praise ‘steel friendship’ amid growing ties
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Associated Press
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian officials have praised the “steel friendship” with China during talks with China’s foreign minister. The talks come amid fears in the West that Beijing, by heavily investing in the Balkan state, is trying to exert its political influence in that part of Europe. Serbia, a European Union candidate country, and China have rapidly intensified economic and political relations in recent years, with Chinese companies taking over Serbia’s main copper and steel mills and building roads, factories and railway lines. Chinese state banks have granted billions of dollars in loans to the Balkan country for the construction projects that are mostly conducted by Chinese workers.
