Published
Video length: 2 min
Serbia: a “red” village polluted by China?
Chinese President Xi Jinping will continue his European tour. He will be in Serbia and Budapest. Two friendly countries where China has invested massively, notably by purchasing steel factories. Eight years that Beijing bought, but did not reinvest. Residents are exasperated. Reporting.
(franceinfo)
Chinese President Xi Jinping will continue his European tour. He will be in Serbia and Budapest. Two friendly countries where China has invested massively, notably by purchasing steel factories. Eight years that Beijing bought, but did not reinvest. Residents are exasperated. Reporting.
The walls of the Smederevo district, in Serbia, about fifty kilometers from Belgrade, are covered by a thick layer of red dust. The fault lies with a factory, the only steelworks in Serbia, the country’s main exporter. In 2016, it was bought by the Chinese giant HBIS, one of the world’s largest steel producers. Since then, the air has been polluted, and residents have complained of foul odors and sore throats.
Cancers on the rise
According to the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, the town of Smederevo is one of the most polluted in the country. The city’s public health center even assures that cases of cancer increased fourfold between 2011 and 2019. NGOs point the finger at the responsibility of Chinese owners. Mines, steelworks, coal-fired power stations, bridges and highways, China has invested massively in the Balkans in recent years.
