Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday said that China will work with Hungary and Serbia to modernise an important railway between the two eastern European countries.

"We have reached an important cooperation agreement on an infrastructure project: a railway between Hungary and Serbia", Li told a press conference in Bucharest, ahead of a summit with 16 central and eastern European leaders.

"The modernisation of this railway will boost the cooperation in the region", Serbian Prime minister Ivica Dacic told journalists.

"China's investment policy in the region is of assistance to the entire European Union because it increases the competitiveness of the EU", Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban added.

No financial details nor schedline were given for the project.

Dacic also told journalists that a much-needed bridge over the Danube in Belgrade should be completed by the Chinese by the end of next year.