Serbia on Tuesday accepted an offer to sell the country's sole steel mill, and its largest exporter, to China's HBIS, the world's third-biggest steel producer, the economy ministry said.

As the only bidder, "HBIS offered 46 million euros ($52 million), which is above the starting price required in the public call" for the Zelezara Smederevo plant, which lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Belgrade, the ministry said in a statement published on government's web site.

China's Hebei Iron and Steel (HBIS) plans notably to "invest into the process of galvanisation of the plant's products aimed at the car and construction industry," the statement said.

HBIS, the largest steel producer in China, plans to increase annual production to 2.1 million tonnes, which could be reached in three to four years, a steel plant's official Bojan Bojkovic told RTS public broadcaster.

The Serbian government has been trying to privatise Zelezara Smederevo since 2012 when it had bought it back from US Steel for the symbolic price of one dollar.

The government said at the time the move was aimed at preventing the loss of some 5,000 jobs and keep operations going while seeking a new long-term strategic partner.

US Steel, which bought the bankrupt plant for 23 million dollars in 2003, pulled out in 2012 because of the global economic downturn.

After a last year's failed sale, management of the plant was entrusted to Netherlands-based HPK Engineering BV with the purpose of preparing it for privatisation.

Zelezara Smederevo has an annual capacity of about two million tonnes and at its peak accounted for 14 percent of Serbia's exports.

According to Serbia's Chamber of Commerce, Zelezara Smederevo is Serbia's biggest exporter with 8.9 percent of total exports which were 11.2 billion euros in 2014.

Serbia's government wants to privatise a raft of public companies, a condition of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund, although it has called off the sale of one of its biggest assets, Telekom Srbija.