Serbia: Chinese Development Finance Profile, 2000-2022
Date Published
Oct 10, 2025
Authors
JulieAnn Sickell, Brooke Escobar
Publisher
Citation
Sickell, J. and Escobar, B. (2025). Serbia: The Scale, Scope, and Composition of Chinese Development Finance. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary.
Abstract
This country profile provides a detailed overview of the scale, scope, and composition of Chinese state-directed financing in Serbia from 2000 to 2022. It includes granular information on key trends in China’s loan and grant-financed commitments, its lending portfolio, ESG risks in its infrastructure projects, and contractual safeguards adoption and implementation.
From 2000 to 2022, China directed $7.7 billion in loan and grant-financed commitments for 121 projects in Serbia. The peak of Chinese financing to Serbia occurred in 2019, when the country received $1.6 billion in new aid and non-concessional loans, with a significant portion ($1.1 billion) coming from China Eximbank in the form of a preferential buyer’s credit for the Novi Sad–Subotica–State Border (Kelebija) section of the Hungarian-Serbian Railway Project.
The insights in this profile are derived from AidData’s Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, Version 3.0 and the sources referenced therein. Additional 2022 data collection is based on a forthcoming dataset version launching in November 2025.
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