November 23 (SeeNews) - China Development Bank (CDB) is interested in signing a cooperation agreement with Serbia for participation in the financing of infrastructure projects in the country, the lender's executive vice president Zhang Xuguang has said.
CDB wishes to cooperate with Serbia in infrastructure projects that are being executed and is ready to sign a cooperation agreement with the government, Xuguang said, according to a press release issued by the Serbian infrastructure ministry on Thursday.
The Chinese bank may participate in the financing of the construction of a trunk road connecting Belgrade to pan-European Transport Corridor XI and the completion of the Belgrade bypass road, infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said during a meeting with Xuguang.
"We are finalizing Corridor X, we are launching a new investment cycle worth more than 5 billion euro ($5.7 billion). We are part of the global initiative 'One Belt, One Road' and one of the first countries in the region that signed the Memorandum of Cooperation with China," Mihajlovic said.
The construction of the 9-km Surcin-Belgrade trunk road will start next year and will be completed by 2021, Mihalovic said last month.
In September, Serbia signed a 207 million euro loan agreement with China for financing the completion of the construction of the Belgrade bypass.
($ = 0.878809 euro)