China has enhanced its presence in the Balkans by reaching an understanding with three Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to build a land-sea express passage linking Beijing with Southeast Europe through the Mediterranean.
The consensus was reached when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with his counterparts from Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia one day after the meeting between China and 16 CEE countries in Belgrade, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China, Hungary, Serbia and Macedonia agreed to build a land-sea express link connecting Budapest, Belgrade, Skopje, Athens and the port of Piraeus in Greece, one of the largest container ports in Europe.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is on an official visit to Serbia to attend a meeting of 16 leaders from Central and Eastern European countries, said the express line is just a start and China hopes more lines will be built in the region.
Li said the land-sea express route will be "an extension and upgraded version" of the planned Hungary-Serbia railway running through Belgrade and Budapest to connect China.
The corridor will be based on a rail link between Budapest and Belgrade, which will be built and financed by Chinese companies by 2017. It will extend to Macedonia before reaching Piraeus.
The four countries signed a cooperation agreement yesterday to streamline customs clearances along the route.
The initiative will provide more convenient sea access for Chinese exports to Europe and for European goods to China.
It will also transform Piraeus into a new hub for trade with the continent, in addition to helping landlocked Hungary and Serbia gain access to the most important transit port connecting the Balkans, Mediterranean and Africa.
"It will become an alternative to the existing northern route connecting China with Europe by rail, which goes through the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Russia, Poland and (eventually) Spain," said Zhao Junjie, a researcher of European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The land-sea passage, upon its completion, will open up a new convenient channel for the import and export of products between China and Europe, Li said adding that more express lanes between China and the European Union (EU) should be built to boost the cooperation.
When constructing the route, all sides should uphold the principle of "joint construction and sharing" and decide issues regarding cooperation model and capital support through negotiation on an equal footing, Xinhua quoted Li as saying.
Prime ministers of Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia said that the new land-sea express passage will "forcefully promote the cooperation between Europe and China and the regional development, as well as benefit the local people.
