According to Serbian Economist, the Chinese industrial group TBEA is considering Serbia as a potential location for establishing transformer production facilities geared toward exporting to the European market. Negotiations between Serbian authorities and the company’s management in Tianjin have moved beyond preliminary discussions and shifted to more concrete talks regarding an industrial project.
The possibility of opening a manufacturing facility in Serbia is being discussed, one that will focus not only on equipment assembly but also on deeper localization—including technology transfer, the development of a local supply chain, and workforce integration.
TBEA’s interest in Serbia is driven by several factors. First, the country offers proximity to EU markets without the full cost burden characteristic of the European Union itself. Second, growing logistics links and a free trade agreement with China make Serbia a convenient platform for both the supply of components and the export of finished products.
The overall situation in Europe adds particular significance to the project. Demand for transformers and grid equipment is growing amid the integration of renewable energy, electrification, and the modernization of transmission networks, while a shortage of production capacity is already becoming one of the constraints on infrastructure programs. Against this backdrop, the potential establishment of a new plant in Serbia could partially relieve pressure on European supply chains.
For Serbia, such a project would mean not just an influx of investment, but deeper integration into the European energy industry.
TBEA is one of China’s largest industrial groups in the field of high-voltage equipment, transformers, and energy infrastructure. The company operates in the power transmission and distribution, power machinery, solar energy, and industrial equipment segments and is one of the key providers of solutions for large-scale grid and energy projects in China and beyond.
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Chinese authorities plan to restrict the ability of the country’s technology companies—including its most prominent AI startups—to raise U.S. capital without government approval, according to Bloomberg.
Chinese agencies, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), have in recent weeks advised a number of private companies to reject U.S.-sourced capital in investment rounds unless they have direct permission from the authorities, the agency’s sources note.
According to them, such instructions were received, in particular, by Moonshot AI—the developer of the Kimi chatbot, which is preparing for an IPO—as well as the AI startup StepFun.
Regulators have also decided to impose similar restrictions on ByteDance Ltd., the owner of TikTok and the country’s most valuable startup. Authorities do not want the company, which also operates one of the country’s most popular chatbots, to allow U.S. investors to participate in secondary share offerings without government approval, sources say.
The main goal of these restrictions is to prevent U.S. investors from acquiring stakes in companies in sensitive sectors where national security is a priority, they note.
The new measures stem from Meta Platforms Inc.’s $2 billion acquisition of the Chinese AI startup Manus, announced last December. Chinese authorities launched an investigation, believing the deal could violate technology export control rules and national security requirements.
Initially, the deal was viewed as a benchmark for startups with global ambitions, but concerns subsequently arose regarding the transfer of valuable AI technologies to a geopolitical rival.
The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China’s economy in the first quarter decreased by 7.3% compared to the same period last year—to 249.6 billion yuan ($36.35 billion), according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The manufacturing sector attracted 71.46 billion yuan, while the services sector attracted 174.6 billion yuan. In particular, investment in high-tech industries rose by 30.7% to reach 102.73 billion yuan.
Luxembourg nearly doubled its FDI (by 96.8%), Switzerland increased it by 50.4%, France by 42.3%, and South Korea by 35.2%, according to data from the ministry cited by Xinhua News Agency.
In January–March, 13,987 new enterprises with foreign capital were registered in China, an 11% increase compared to the same period in 2025.
As reported, FDI volume for 2025 decreased by 9.5% to 747.7 billion yuan.
Steel production in China fell by 6.3% in March compared with the same month last year, to 87.04 million tonnes, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. In the first quarter, steel production fell by 4.6% to 247.55 million tonnes.
Steel exports in March fell by 12.6% to 9.13 million tonnes, and by 9.9% over the three-month period to 24.71 million tonnes.
Pig iron output last month fell by 3.3% to 73.28 million tonnes. In January–March, it fell by 2.9% to 210.98 million tonnes.
Steel product output in March fell by 2.3% to 130.98 million tonnes, and by 1.7% in the first quarter to 351.44 million tonnes.
As reported, by the end of 2025, steel production in China had fallen by 4.4% to 960.81 million tonnes, the lowest level in seven years.
This year, China plans to complete construction and commission seven nuclear power units, according to the annual report of the China Nuclear Energy Association.
Currently, there are 60 nuclear power units in operation in the country, providing a stable foundation for the transition to clean energy, according to the report “Development of China’s Nuclear Energy.”
Thirty-six units are under construction, with construction on two of them having begun this year. China accounts for more than half of the total number of nuclear power plants under construction worldwide.
Plans for another 16 nuclear power units have been officially approved and are awaiting the start of construction, according to data from the report cited by China Daily.
The total installed capacity of China’s nuclear power plants is 125 GW, making the country the world leader in this category.
The entry of Ukrainian wheat flour into the Chinese market is a strategically important step, but one should not expect mass shipments to begin immediately, said Rodion Rybchynskyi, director of the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association.
“Opening the market at the intergovernmental level means the establishment of a legal and technical framework, but it is not a signal for an immediate start to exports. There will be no rapid commercial shipments for the time being. Signing the protocol is only the first step, which defines production and control requirements, setting the conditions for future operations,” the association’s press service quoted him as saying on Facebook.
One of Beijing’s strictest requirements remains full product traceability. This involves monitoring the entire chain: from the specific field where the wheat was grown to the final batch of flour.
According to the association’s head, building such a control system is a systematic effort that cannot be completed in a few weeks. In addition to technical barriers, exporters face complex logistics and economic challenges.
As Rybchynskyi noted, the Chinese market remains unique due to high import duties and VAT. The situation is further complicated by security risks to Ukraine’s port infrastructure, which drive up the cost of maritime transport and make assembling large shipments a difficult task.
The “Flour Millers of Ukraine” association is confident that the very fact of the protocol’s approval is a mark of quality for the domestic control system. This confirms that the flour meets the standards of one of the world’s most demanding markets, which in the long term will enable the diversification of sales of high-value-added products.
