Serbia saves Chinese company from US sanctions, Belgrade sides with investors

Authorities in Serbia appear not to trust US customs officials. Because of suspicions of forced labor, the United States has imposed restrictions on imports of copper, and earlier on car tires, from two Chinese companies in Serbia, Zijin Copper and Linglong.

Serbian institutions are remaining silent over the claims by US authorities regarding non-payment of wages, confiscation of personal documents, restrictions on movement, and excessive overtime imposed on workers.

Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is more concerned about the export ban. However, Marija Angjelkovic of the non-governmental organization Astra warned that the issue is not whether the state will help one company or another export its products.

“But whether we will ensure that no worker in Serbia, regardless of nationality, is exposed to forced labor and exploitation,” she said.

Zijin Copper said it takes the claims of the US authorities seriously and is verifying them. The company stressed that it opposes all forms of forced labor.

Linglong, meanwhile, did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s question as to whether it had investigated the allegations of forced labor at its factory in Serbia.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency announced on June 16 that it had issued an order banning copper and copper products from Zijin Copper Serbia.

Several months earlier, the same decision had been taken against car tires produced by Linglong. The non-governmental organization China Labor Watch has also said it documented cases of forced labor at the Chinese companies Zijin Copper and Linglong in Serbia.

Chinese companies Zijin Copper and Linglong are among the biggest exporters from Serbia. Zijin Copper was established in 2018, after taking control of the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin (RTB Bor) in eastern Serbia, where parent company Zijin Mining owns 63 percent of the shares, while the Serbian state owns 37 percent.

Linglong, meanwhile, has been operating since September 2024 in Zrenjanin, in northeastern Serbia, when the factory was inaugurated after five years of construction. The Serbian government declared the 800 million euro project an investment of national importance, presenting it as proof of the partnership between Belgrade and Beijing.

As part of the further strengthening of the “steel friendship,” as the leaders of Serbia and China describe their relations, Serbian authorities have announced an increase in Chinese investment.

Radio Free Europe has reported on several occasions about poor working conditions at Chinese companies in Serbia, a country where the authorities have opened the door to Chinese investment.

Regardless of the decision by the US authorities, the Serbian state should, through coordinated action by the labor inspectorate, the prosecution, and the Center for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking, have investigated the allegations of forced labor.

That is what Marija Angjelkovic from Astra, an organization working to eliminate exploitation and human trafficking, told Radio Free Europe.

“And identify possible victims, as well as determine whether or not there are elements of the criminal offense of human trafficking and other forms of labor exploitation,” she added.

Serbia’s Labor Ministry did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s question as to whether it had investigated working conditions at Linglong and Zijin Copper, and whether it would do so following the decision by US customs authorities.

The Center for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking also did not respond to that question.

In Bor, the Basic Prosecutor’s Office told Radio Free Europe that it had not received from the competent inspectorates any notification or possible criminal complaint related to the allegations of forced labor at Zijin Copper.

Meanwhile, the Higher Prosecutor’s Office in Zrenjanin did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s question as to whether it had investigated the allegations by US authorities regarding Linglong, and how far proceedings had advanced regarding the complaint raising suspicions of human trafficking and violations of the rights of workers from Bangladesh.

That prosecutor’s office confirmed to Radio Free Europe at the end of January that it had received such a complaint, but gave no further details.

“The case is under review, but due to its volume and complexity it is not realistic to expect the facts to be established immediately,” the prosecutor’s office said in its January response.

Angjelkovic recalled that Serbia has ratified the main international instruments in the field of human trafficking and forced labor.

These include the conventions of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations through the Palermo Protocol, and the Council of Europe, specifically the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

“This means that when there are serious indicators of exploitation, the state should not place itself first in defense of the company or the investment, but should ensure an effective and impartial investigation, as well as the protection of possible victims,” Angjelkovic said.

Li Qiang, founder and executive director of China Labor Watch (CLW), told Radio Free Europe that the organization has conducted several field investigations in Serbia since 2022.

According to him, more than 100 workers were interviewed and considerable additional documentation was collected, as well as testimony and other information.

Based on these findings, he said, CLW filed a complaint with US customs authorities, which then carried out their own independent investigation.

After the publication of the results of the US customs investigation into Zijin Copper, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the state would help the company as much as it could to resolve the export problem.

“It is clear that in the geopolitical conflict where everyone is against everyone else, but where two major powers stand out, the US and China, we are paying the price,” he said on June 18.

Vucic also said he believed that Serbia, through dialogue with the Americans, “would be able to help at least somewhat the company in Bor, which employs 7,000 people and keeps eastern Serbia alive.”

Several months earlier, Vucic had described as “shameful” the decision by US authorities to ban imports of car tires from Linglong.

“This is terrible. Someone from the US administration has adopted exactly a false story that Chinese workers there are working under coercion,” Vucic told TV Pink on December 28, 2025.

Serbia’s presidency did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s question as to whether it would ask the competent institutions to investigate the claims made by US customs authorities.

However, Angjelkovic warned that the focus surrounding the US decision should not be on geopolitical relations between the US and China.

“But on the allegations of possible labor exploitation and forced labor that led to that decision,” she said.

She explained that the state has no international obligation to protect the company from accusations of forced labor.

“The state has an international obligation to protect workers, identify possible victims, and carry out an effective investigation into every allegation of exploitation,” she added.

On the day he said the state would help Zijin Copper regarding the ban on exports to the US, Serbian President Vucic visited an exhibition at the Chinese Cultural Center in Belgrade dedicated to friendship between Serbia and China.

During the visit, he said that sanctions against China and protectionist measures directed against it could not succeed.

At an event organized on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership between Serbia and China, Vucic said that China “will continue to grow, develop, and gradually knock down these obstacles one by one along the way and will win even more convincingly.”/RFE