SMM, March 13 / PRNewswire-Asianet /-China Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. has expressed interest in acquiring the loss-making Serbian copper miner and smelter RTB Bor, a Balkan country that has been trying to sell RTB for the past 10 years.

President Alexander Vucic met with representatives of Zijin Mining on Monday and said in a statement from his office that Zijin had expressed its intention to invest hundreds of millions of dollars.

Serbia has tried three times since 2007 to sell heavily indebted mining companies, but it has been neglected for a long time during the Balkan war of the 1990s and subsequent international isolation.

Last week, Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic said Belgrade would start privatizing RTB Bor by June, a prerequisite for potential buyers to invest $300 million to $330 million.

Future investors must also deal with environmental risks.

Vucic welcomed Zijin's bid at his office, and Zijin representatives said they were interested in developing RTB Bor and the region.

China sees Serbia as part of its "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative, which aims to open up new foreign trade links for Chinese enterprises.

So far, China has invested more than $1 billion in Balkan countries, mainly soft loans, infrastructure and energy projects.

In order to accelerate reform and stimulate economic growth, Serbia must properly deal with the remaining state-owned enterprises, as recommended by the International Monetary Fund.

In 2016, a Serbian court approved a plan to restructure RTB Bor, cancelling 90 per cent of unsecured debt.