"Face of China expansion" chooses Belgrade for European HQ

BELGRADE China's construction industry mega-corporation, Sinohydro Corp., has chosen Serbia's capital Belgrade as the seat of its European headquarters. The company, recently described by the Financial Times as "the face of China's international expansion", employs over 130,000 people, and reports USD 20bn in annual revenues, with 310 projects built in 58 countries. "Face of China expansion" chooses Belgrade for European HQ These numbers are impressive for a single company, even if it is Chinese. Sinohydro has already started coordinating its European operations from Belgrade, ranging from Romania to Portugal, and has the first contracts signed, its representatives say. There are several reasons why the company chose Serbia, despite the fact it still has no projects under way in this country. One is that Sinohydro is one of a handful of companies that have a strategic partnership contract signed with China's state-owned EXIM Bank, and are therefore obligated to monitor the bank's plans and guarantee realization of international projects that are of national importance to China. So far, Sinohydro has carried out 55 such projects worth USD 8bn, financed by EXIM. Now that a special USD 10bn fund has been set aside for Southeastern Europe - aimed to provide favorable assistance to energy and infrastructure in the region - the company sees Serbia as a country with great growth potential, and one with construction and engineering tradition - at the same time geographically favorably located, and nurturing friendly ties with China. Sinohydro is now the most serious candidate to build Corridor XI in Serbia, a project that is part of EXIM's USD 10bn fund. The highway will connect Belgrade with Cacak in central Serbia. As for the tunnels that will have to be built along the way, the company has experience - having constructed the world's longest tunnel, that stretches for 86 kilometers. Other record achievements include the world's largest hydro-power plant, with 32x700MW capacity - 14 times more than Serbia's electrical industry pride, Nikola Tesla A. Sinohydro's representatives now expect more colleagues to join them in Belgrade, and see special potential in a possible strategic international partnership with Serbia's Energoprojekt. Meetings have already been held to discuss the subject, while the two companies - both founded in 1951 - are described as sharing "the same organization, work principles, international spirit, and joint friends on all continents". China's President Hu Jintao started his professional career in Sinohydro. That provided him great possibilities, while the company now enjoys "benevolence" from the country's top echelons of power. B92

"Face of China expansion" chooses Belgrade for European HQ

These numbers are impressive for a single company, even if it is Chinese. Sinohydro has already started coordinating its European operations from Belgrade, ranging from Romania to Portugal, and has the first contracts signed, its representatives say.

There are several reasons why the company chose Serbia, despite the fact it still has no projects under way in this country.

One is that Sinohydro is one of a handful of companies that have a strategic partnership contract signed with China's state-owned EXIM Bank, and are therefore obligated to monitor the bank's plans and guarantee realization of international projects that are of national importance to China.

So far, Sinohydro has carried out 55 such projects worth USD 8bn, financed by EXIM. Now that a special USD 10bn fund has been set aside for Southeastern Europe - aimed to provide favorable assistance to energy and infrastructure in the region - the company sees Serbia as a country with great growth potential, and one with construction and engineering tradition - at the same time geographically favorably located, and nurturing friendly ties with China.

Sinohydro is now the most serious candidate to build Corridor XI in Serbia, a project that is part of EXIM's USD 10bn fund. The highway will connect Belgrade with Čačak in central Serbia. As for the tunnels that will have to be built along the way, the company has experience - having constructed the world's longest tunnel, that stretches for 86 kilometers. Other record achievements include the world's largest hydro-power plant, with 32x700MW capacity - 14 times more than Serbia's electrical industry pride, Nikola Tesla A.

Sinohydro's representatives now expect more colleagues to join them in Belgrade, and see special potential in a possible strategic international partnership with Serbia's Energoprojekt. Meetings have already been held to discuss the subject, while the two companies - both founded in 1951 - are described as sharing "the same organization, work principles, international spirit, and joint friends on all continents".

China's President Hu Jintao started his professional career in Sinohydro. That provided him great possibilities, while the company now enjoys "benevolence" from the country's top echelons of power.