AFP Forum

BALKANS - MONTENEGRO - CHINA - EU - ECONOMY

BALKANS - MONTENEGRO - CHINA - EU - ECONOMY
A picture taken on April 8, 2019, shows the first section of a highway connecting the city of Bar on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast to landlocked neighbour Serbia, (Bar-Boljare highway) near the village of Bioce, north of Montenegrin capital Podgorica, which is being constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the large state-owned Chinese company. In the Serbian steel town of Smederevo, 54-year-old mill worker Zoran Matic thanks "the Chinese -- or as we call them, our friends," for rescuing a factory that was on the brink of bankruptcy before China's HBIS group bought it in 2014 for 46 million euros ($52 million at current rates). From coal plants to airports, bridges and IT, China is forking out for investments across the Western Balkans, laying groundwork for a new battle for influence on the EU's fringe.
Savo PRELEVIC / AFP