Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic hailed a Chinese company working on a high-speed rail line connecting Belgrade to Budapest, in Hungary, as "a miracle" as a new high-speed train was unveiled in the Serbian capital on Friday. The rail network is part of in Europe, a major scheme announced by the Chinese government in 2013 which is intended to develop infrastructure across large parts of Asia, east Africa and Eastern Europe in what critics claim is a bid to dramatically increase Beijing's influence. China has been working hard to and the two countries were visited, along with France, by President during his visit to Europe in May.
Both Serbia and Hungary enjoy warm relations with Russia, China's main ally, though the latter is also a member of and the . According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua the train unveiled on Friday at the Zemun train station can travel at up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour and has 250 seats. Vucic announced at the event that Serbia had ordered five of the trains from the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, which are intended to be used along the Belgrade-Budapest railway which is currently under construction.
He commented: "The last one should arrive according to the contract on Dec. 31, 2025. We will carry out tests for the Belgrade-Subotica line already in September, and no later than Dec.
1. If we finish the line by then, and we will, you will ride this train Belgrade-Subotica." Referring to the engineering company which is working .
