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Crossover: More than 20 agreements reached between China and Serbia

Reporter: Xi Jia 丨 CCTV.com

06-19-2016 03:40 BJT

Full coverage: President Xi Visits 3 Nations, Attends SCO Summit

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For more details, joining us live from Belgrade is CCTV's Xi Jia.

Q1. Second day into Xi's visit, how are people there reacting?

In April, Chinese HeSteel Group (HBIS) -- the world's second largest steel producer -- bought Serbia's only steel mill for 300 million yuan. It set an example for international industrial capacity cooperation between China and central and eastern Europe.

Vladica Pavlovia is a crane operator at Smederevo SteelWORKS. For 34 years, he has seen all the ups and downs of this old steel factory.

Smederevo Steel WORKS was founded in 1913. After it went bankrupt in 2003, it was sold to US Steel for 23 million US dollars. Serbia bought it back in 2012 when the investor from the United States withdrew.

After the departure of US Steel, the country was looking for a new investor.
HBIS was the sole competitor at a tender which finished on April 6, and bought the factory for 46 million euros.

"When we signed contract with China in April, I am on the scene when the president of Hesteel promised that they would improve working environment,and will restart a furnace to increase output. I hope it could be realized," said Vladica Pavlovia.

For the 5,000 workers at the factory, China's purchase was like timely rain. Years of substantial loss was like the sword of Damocles to the hardworking people here, as well as a hard hit to Serbia's economy.

"This is a great day, all the staff in Smederevo, your wait is worthy. You have been through years of uncertainty, every sleepless nights to think how to feed the family," said Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister of Serbia.

Not only a business trade, about 5,500 workers were helped by the purchase. Their skill and hard work can now push the factory to even greater heights.

"In fact we showed our clear stance that during the purchase, we didn't take the workers of Smederevo as a burden, because it is a professional team with rich experiences, they are precious fortunes.When Chinese companies do overseas merger and acquisition, we should never do it only for changing the local people's fates,if so, even if we own the company itself, we could not hold its future," said Yu Yong, President of Chinese HeSteel Group.

Hesteel Chairman Yu Yong said that the company plans to increase its annual overseas revenue by 30 percent by 2018 to $20 billion per year, 57.5 percent higher than in 2014.

As China's biggest steel company, Chinese HeSteel Group has a global layout and target. The purchase will help raise employment and boost profits as global steel assets drop in value. It may also serve to promote economic development in those areas.

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