Serbia Profile of Chinese Development Finance, 2000-2023
Date Published
May 28, 2026
Authors
JulieAnn Sickell, Brooke Escobar, and Oshin Pandey
Publisher
Citation
Sickell, J., Escobar, B., and Pandey, O. (2026). Serbia: Chinese Development Finance, 2000-2023. 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 2023, China provided 83 grant-related official commitments and directed $7.1 billion via 39 loans issued 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 China's Global Loans and Grants Dataset, Version 1.0 and the sources referenced therein.
Featured Authors
Brooke Escobar
Associate Director of Tracking Underreported Financial Flows (TUFF)
