BRI projects aid recovery in Europe amid COVID-19

Infrastructure plays significant role in the initiative's work in the region

BELGRADE－The global economy is longing for a quick recovery after a huge blow from the COVID-19 pandemic. Central and Eastern European countries are seeing contributions from Chinese investment projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

From the Mediterranean Sea to the Baltic Sea, BRI projects are gradually getting back on track despite challenges related to worldwide travel restrictions and production stoppages.

China's Norinco provided equipment for construction of Senj Wind Farm. The supplies arrived during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe after being stranded in Croatia's Zadar Port for three months.

Thanks to the collaboration and hard work between Chinese and Croatian employees, 50 percent of the contract value has so far been completed, Liu Zhen, general manager of Norinco's Zagreb branch, told Xinhua.

By the end of this year, 13 wind turbines on the farm will be ready for power generation and 39 will be up and running by April.

At Montenegro's Mozura, wind turbines built by Shanghai Electric Power Co have started spinning along a new highway that stretches toward the border with Serbia.

Peljesac Bridge, a 2.4-kilometer structure built by China Road and Bridge Corp that will connect the Croatian mainland with the Peljesac Peninsula, is expected to be finished next year. It is an iconic infrastructure project funded by the European Union.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably delayed our project as production of steel box girders was halted, while international travel restrictions left us understaffed," said Lu Shengwei, a representative of CRBC in Croatia.

To get back on schedule, the company even arranged a direct charter flight for its welders, Lu told Xinhua News Agency.

As the production of the steel box girders resumed in China after the outbreak came under better control, the project began to get back on track.

Once completed, the Belgrade-South Adriatic Highway built by CRBC, also called E763, will greatly facilitate movement of passengers and goods between the Balkans and the hinterlands of Europe.