China's ambition, US retreat on show in Serbian factory town

A general view of the Zelezara Smederevo steel mill, in the city of Smederevo, 45 kilometers east of Belgrade, Serbia. When U.S. Steel sold its loss-making smelter in Serbia to the government for $1 in 2012, few thought the communist-era factory would ever be revived. Then came along a state-owned Chinese company. Hebei Iron & Steel's $52 million purchase of the steelworks last year is part of China's broader effort to project influence and gain access

 Darko Vojinovic - The Associated Press
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SMEDEREVO, Serbia — A giant Chinese red flag flutters on a pole where an American flag used to fly at a steel mill in this dusty industrial Serbian town. The company logos of U.S. Steel are faded on the huge chimneys stacks, replaced by those of a Chinese company.

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