BALKANS

Chinese PM Li Keqiang opens bridge over Danube, first part of future city highway

Heads of the Serbian and Chinese governments have opened a Chinese-financed bridge in Belgrade. The multi-million-euro bridge will be followed by other infrastructure projects in Serbia and the region.

Li Keqiang and Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade

The Danube bridge is part of a future city highway, that is also financed by China. Li Keqiang is the first Chinese prime minister to visit Belgrade in the last 28 years.

"I would like to congratulate all those - Chinese and Serbs - who participated in the construction of this bridge, which represents a big success," Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening ceremony in Belgrade on Thursday. He added that there is a "traditional friendship" between the two countries.

Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic described the project as "the first feat of Chinese builders in Europe."

The new bridge was named after Serbian scientist Mihajlo Pupin.

Li Keqiang said that the cooperation between China and the EU included countries of eastern and southeastern Europe, which would benefit European integration for the region.

Bullet train to Budapest

During his stay in Belgrade, Li Keqiang attended a summit with 16 heads of nations in central and eastern Europe. China has invested billions of euros in Hungary and Serbia, and Chinese commerce minister Gao Hucheng said recently that trade with eastern Europe could exceed 50 billion euros ($61 billion) in 2014.

Countries in Europe, such as Poland, hope to redirect some of their exports to China. This especially applies to food, after Russia banned imports from the EU earlier this year in response to EU sanctions over Moscow's role in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

On Wednesday , China signed a deal worth one and a half billion euros concerning construction of ahigh-speed bullet train between Budapest and Belgrade, in an effort to accelerate the delivery of Chinese exports from Piraeus to continental Europe.

Falun Gong activists arrested

Amnesty International says last Sunday Serbian police arrested 11 supporters of the Falun Gong religious movement which is banned in China. They had allegedly planned protests against China during the economic summit.

Amnesty expressed concern that "Serbian authorities are acting unlawfully" towards the sympathizers of the Falun Gong group. The activists - nine Bulgarians, a Slovak and a Finn - have already been deported, according to Serbian media.

dj/jm (AP, AFP, Beta)