Hungary, Serbia and China have unveiled plans to sign an agreement to modernise the Budapest-Belgrade rail link. The plan was announced at the recent Central Eastern Europe-China summit which was held in Belgrade.

 

Under the plan, the designed high-speed rail upgrade which is to be carried out between Hungary’s and Serbia’s capitals will allow a faster transportation of Chinese goods from ports in Greece to other European countries, according to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

 

Local media report that the investment is to be completed by June 2017, enabling trains with a maximum speed of 200 km/h.

 

The amount of the planned investment was not disclosed by the prime minister. China will cooperate with Hungary and Serbia on the project by providing financial and technical support for the rail investment.

 

“This [rail link] will form one section of the transit route, starting from Greece, which will lead through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary to Western Europe,” Orbán said.

 

The Hungarian prime minister said he believed it was Europe’s vital interest to establish close cooperation with China on key projects of common interest.

 

With this and similar projects in mind, Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China, has announced plans by his country to set up a fund with assets totalling $3 billion to “encourage Chinese enterprises and financial institutions to actively participate in the public-private cooperation as well as the privatisation process” in the region of Central and Eastern Europe.