The framework agreement on education between Hungary and China will also be extended to cooperation in vocational training, Minister for Innovation and Technology László Palkovics told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday in Beijing.

The Minister had talks with Vice-Minister of Education Zheng Fuzhi with whom he signed a three-year framework agreement for the period between 2019 and 2022. Pursuant to the agreement, each country offers 230 scholarships, including scholarships for MsC, BsC and doctoral programmes as well as scholarships for short-term studies and research.

Mr Palkovics said the new framework agreement now also extends to vocational training which will be implemented for the first time in Békéscsaba in Hungary with the involvement of a Chinese partner.

The Minister pointed out that China’s Belt and Road global economic and infrastructure initiative is – in contrast to the ancient Silk Road – not only a means for the flow of goods and services, but also includes cooperation in the areas of education and research. In order to conquer the physical distance between the two countries, there is a need for developing arrangements such as the local representation of institutions, he said, adding that several Chinese universities offer training programmes in Hungary. He mentioned as an example the training programme of the Shanghai-based Fudan University at the Budapest Corvinus University which has been available since last year. In addition to off-site training, he recalled, the Hungarian government would like to Hungary to be the host of the first Chinese university to operate in Europe.

On Monday, the Minister also had talks about the Budapest-Belgrade railway line. The Hungarian consortium – in which two Chinese companies and a Hungarian business cooperate – agreed that each party would take part in the construction of the railway line with equal shares. In Beijing Mr Palkovics had talks with executives of China Railway Signal and Communications, a company specialising in railway automation, in order to acquaint himself with the signalling control and other equipment offered by the Chinese company which have already been built into the Serbian section of the railway line. He stressed, however, that the Hungarian consortium would decide whether the company could take part in the construction of the Hungarian section of the railway line.

The Minister also met with the President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with whom he discussed possible projects, for the purposes of which the bank would provide funding in accordance with the consultations held in October in Budapest. The bank finances projects which are in some way connected to Asia, Mr Palkovics underlined.

As part of a working meeting, the Minister further met with the Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) with whom he conducted talks about the preparations for the financing agreement of the Budapest-Belgrade railway development project. According to plans, the agreement would be signed before the end of the year, and the project would start next January, the Minister reported.

(MTI)