China-Serbia friendship cast in steel

President Xi Jinping received a special gift from workers at the Smederevo steel plant in Serbia in June 2016. It was a badge made of steel they had produced.

Behind the gift is the story of the rebirth of the steel mill with the help of a Chinese company under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The workers' jobs had been at risk earlier, as the steel plant, founded in 1913 and once the epitome of Serbia's industrial success, was on the brink of bankruptcy.

A turning point came in 2016. China's HeSteel Group (HBIS) purchased the Smederevo steel mill and established HBIS Serbia. All 5,000 Serbian employees kept their jobs.

The plant had been losing money for seven consecutive years before becoming profitable in a couple of months.