February 16, during the celebration Serbian National Day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Presented awards and medals to 87 organizations and individuals for their extraordinary contributions to Serbian economy. HBIS Serbia won the Gold Meritorious Medal and it was the only enterprise to be honored of the title.

President Vucic congratulated the winners and said the organizations and individuals winning these awards had made their contributions far beyond their required responsibility, and their contributions and practise has demonstrated the value and the meaning of these awards.

On April 29, Chinese President Xi Jinping responded to a letter from Serbian employees working on the HBIS Group's Smederevo steel plant (HBIS Serbia), it has brought great encouragement to all HBIS staff and injected strong impetus into the development of HBIS Group's Smederevo steel plant. Since the past one year, HBIS firmly implemented the spirits of President Xi Jinping’s letter and the the instructions of Hebei Provincial CPC Chairman Ni Yuefeng in his visit to the company, promoted the spirits of Role Model of the Time, and strengthened the resources supplies in the globe and strategic collaborations and pushed the company performance to a new level. The competitiveness and the value of its brands are improving and making contributions to HBIS Serbia and enhancing the Chinese and Serbian ironclad friendship . ?

Since the takeover of the steel mill, HBIS Serbia has won the Serbian Top Exporter, Serbian Top Brand，UN & EU Green Agenda titles and other awards.