(ANSA-AFP) - BELGRADE, SEP 13 - Chinese Linglong Tire company officially launched Friday mass production at its factory in Serbia, the first in Europe, which is considered a centrepiece of Beijing-backed investment in the Balkan country. China has invested billions in Serbia and its Balkan neighbours in recent years, hoping to expand its economic footprint in central Europe. Last year Beijing and Belgrade signed a free-trade agreement. "This is by far the largest greenfield investment ever realised on the territory of Serbia ... of one billion dollars," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a ceremony at the factory in Zrenjanin. (ANSA-AFP).