Serbian steelworkers inspired by Xi's letter, Chinese investment

Workers at a steel plant in Serbia said they were delighted to receive a reply from Chinese President Xi Jinping to a letter they had written to him, and have confidence in the future thanks to Chinese investment.

On Monday, President Xi replied to the letter from Serbian workers in HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant, encouraging them to make new contributions to the China-Serbia friendship.

In his letter, Xi said that during his state visit to Serbia in 2016, he met with the workers face to face at the plant and felt their deep support for the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Serbia, and their high expectations for a bright future for the steel plant.

Thirty worker’s representatives at the HBIS Smederevo Steel Plant wrote the letter to Xi, detailing the latest developments at the plant and its important contribution to improving local people's wellbeing. They also thanked Xi for showing care and facilitating the project.

Mr. Ignjatovic, a worker at the steel plant, called his colleagues as soon as he learned about Xi's reply letter. The workers said they were very excited to receive the reply letter and eagerly looked forward to the opportunity to tell Xi in person about the development and changes at the steel plant.

"I was very happy because the president of China read our letter from Smederevo, from workers of the steel plant. I was thinking it will not happen, but it's true. For one more time I will say it's unbelievable," said Ignjatovic.

"I sincerely thank President Xi for his response to our letter. I am one of the signatories of this letter. We hope he will have the opportunity to visit us again and review what has happened here over the past eight years," said Bojan Popovic, another worker at the steel plant.

Mr. Mihailovic, a manager at the steel plant, said that Chinese-funded enterprises have brought new technologies and new standards to the steel plant, which not only improved production efficiency, but also improved the local environment.

"In 2016, I was honored to receive President Xi Jinping and introduce our factory to him. I was very excited at that time. We visited the factory together and had tea together in the canteen. At that time, President Xi asked me what my expectations were for this project and whether it would be successful. I said, I can guarantee it in public. If I ever get the chance to see him again, I will tell him that we delivered on our 2016 promise," he said.

Workers at the steel plant said that through the development of the plant, they have seen tangible results brought by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and that they are full of hope for the future.

"After the visit of President Xi Jinping, we had an in-depth understanding of the 'Belt and Road' initiative. We fully understand his initiative. I think our country is on the right path and we as steel workers are excited to be a part of it," said Nenad Botic, a worker at the steel plant.

"Since the arriving and starting with the investment (from China), the people realized that there is a bright future, there is light inside of the tunnel, so all of us were happy,” said Igor Zlatkovic, another worker at the steel plant.

Serbian steelworkers inspired by Xi's letter, Chinese investment

The global new energy industry still faces insufficient capacity to meet the growing demand of new energy products, as the world is gathering pace in pursuing green transformation, said a spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday when explaining why western accusation of China's "overcapacity" affecting global new energy market is groundless.

At a press conference in Beijing, He Yadong, spokesman of China's MOC, denounced such claim, noting that supply and demand are two basic aspects of the internal relation of market economy based on the principles of market economy, and the matter of supply and demand should be viewed from a global perspective, rather than focus on a single country.

"From the perspective of international trade practices, the emergence and development of international trade is labor division and cooperation among countries based on their comparative advantages. By doing so, global economic efficiency and well-being will be enhanced effectively. Developed countries such as the United States, European countries and Japan have long been exporting huge quantities of products to the world. About 80 percent of the chips produced by the U.S. are for export. While around 80 percent and 50 percent of the automobiles produced in Germany and Japan are for export respectively. Airliners manufactured by Boeing and Airbus are also exported in large quantities. However, China only exports 1.2 million electric vehicles, accounting for 12.7 percent of its total production. So it is unfair to say that exports from the United States, Europe and Japan are reasonable, while accusing China's exports of new energy products of overcapacity," He said.

In terms of industrial development trend, green and low-carbon transition is the irresistible trend. With rising global green transition, the demand for new energy products will constantly amplify.

"Overall, the global new energy industry is still at the initial stage of rapid development, therefore instead of experiencing overcapacity, the sector lacks of sufficient capacity," He said.

Global new energy industry still faces insufficient capacity to meet soaring demand: spokesman