The results and risks of China’s Belt and Road investment projects in Serbia

Abstract

China has been steadily increasing the level of its investment projects in Serbia since 2010. With Serbia joining its two very important initiatives, the 17+1 and the Belt and Road, those investments have grown exponentially. The projects vary in size and are placed in different sectors, with infrastructure projects as leading ones. The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the achieved results of Chinese investment projects in Serbia connected to the Belt and Road Initiative from the economic point of view. At the same time, the author will present the list of potential risks for Serbia arising from those projects. The analysed data span from 2014 to May 2020, and they were collected from various sources and evaluated with content analysis. The risks were analysed by applying a scenario method. From an empirical standpoint, this paper will give a new perspective on the risks that Serbia is facing concerning the BRI projects, in the light of changes in the domestic and international environment, especially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author concludes that the BRI projects in Serbia contribute to the Serbian economic development, but at the same time, Serbia is facing two major risks – loan repayment and failure to comply with ecological standards.

Keywords

• serbia
• china
• belt and road initiative
• investment projects
• economic results
• risk