Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (2nd R), Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (1st R) and Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo (2nd L) attend a ceremony marking the start of construction work on a new section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Serbia in Novi Sad, Serbia, Nov 22, 2021. Construction began on a new section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Serbia at a ceremony on Monday. [photo/Xinhua]

The Serbia section of the China-built Hungary-Serbia railway began construction on Monday, marking a major progress in the program, China Railway International, a subsidiary of China State Railway Group, said on Tuesday.

According to the group, the railway is a flagship project to demonstrate the cooperation of China and Central and Eastern Europe and also a major program in the Belt and Road Initiative. The 350-kilometer line, with a designed speed of 200 km/h, links Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and Serbia’s capital Belgrade.