Hungary: Serbian, Chinese and Hungarian PMs at the joint press conference

The agreements signed on Tuesday form part of transaction to modernize the Belgrade-Budapest railway line, and the high-speed connection will likely be built through concessions or public-private partnerships, it was announced.

The high-speed railway would benefit the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, the EU, and as well bolster cooperation between China and this part of Europe, the two prime ministers told the summit.

The new rail link “will bring Serbia not only industrial and infrastructure development but as well better connections with Hungary, Macedonia, Greece and Europe and a faster flow of passengers and goods,” Serbia's Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, told the media.

Vucic explained that the project would drastically shorten travel times between the two capitals from eight to 2.4 hours but would as well create new jobs.

Li Keqiang, Prime Minister of China, which is to provide credits for the project, said the railway would be completed within two years and would foster China-EU economic relations.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the press conference it was a good day for Hungary, as the rail line would enable the country to make better use of its “positive geographical position.”

Belgrade economist Ljubodrag Savic told Serbia's Tanjug news agency that while China would profit most from the deals signed at the summit, other nations involved in the project would benefit.

“Serbia is so poor that it cannot even maintain its existing railways on its own. Just imagine how significant it is at the same time as someone offers to build them up,” Savic noted.

Official talks on the project, whose costs are estimated to range between 1.5 to 2 billion euro, started during Vucic's visit to China in September this year.