Belgrade, Sept 13, 2024 (AFP)
Chinese Linglong Tire company officially launched Friday mass production at its factory in Serbia, the first in Europe, which is considered a centrepiece of Beijing-backed investment in the Balkan country.
China has invested billions in Serbia and its Balkan neighbours in recent years, hoping to expand its economic footprint in central Europe.
Last year Beijing and Belgrade signed a free-trade agreement.
"This is by far the largest greenfield investment ever realised on the territory of Serbia ... of one billion dollars," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a ceremony at the factory in Zrenjanin.
The factory has more than 1,200 Serbian workers and will employ further 600, he said.
Next year its exports will amount to 500 million euros, the president added.
The construction of the factory in Zrenjanin, in Serbia's north, started in 2019.
Truck tyre production was launched last year while passenger car tyres have been produced since the start of the year.
In March, Linglong Tire held in Serbia a meeting with its European business partners that was attended by nearly 100 Linglong dealers.
Linglong Tire CEO Wang Feng emphasised "importance of the European production location", a company statement said.
In the future focus would be "even more on the needs of European traders and the special features of the European markets", it said.
The Serbia factory made headlines in 2021 due to reports on the alleged deception used to lure employees, after hundreds of Vietnamese workers there went on strike.
Serbian leaders have batted away accusations of malfeasance at Linglong.
At the time, the European Parliament called for an enquiry into allegations that Vietnamese workers were trafficked into Serbia and then subjected to forced labour in the factory.
Belgrade has repeatedly been accused of giving Chinese-owned companies a free hand in how they run their operations.
Serbia, a European Union candidate nation, has also strong ties with both China and Russia.
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Serbia in May within his European tour that took him also to France and Hungary.

Sumber : AFP