“Hungarian-Chinese cooperation must be relaunched at the earliest opportunity, and the political will to achieve this exists on both sides”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at an online press conference on Monday to report on his official visit to China.

The significance of the visit is clearly indicated by the fact that the private meeting between the two foreign ministers, which was originally scheduled to last thirty minutes, eventually lasted over one and a half hours, and was also followed by a plenary meeting.

At a joint press conference, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted: “Hungary and China regard their cooperation as extremely important”. The Hungarian foreign minister thanked the Chinese government for its cooperation during the coronavirus epidemic. “185 aeroplanes flew equipment required for healthcare protection to Hungary from China, and the over 90 million face masks, 40 million sets of protective clothing and 800 thousand pharmaceuticals were necessary to enable Hungary to successfully protect itself against the first wave of the global pandemic”, he recalled.

“The main topic of today’s meeting was the schedule according to which economic cooperation between China and Hungary will be relaunched”, he emphasised. “In recent years, China has become the Hungarian economy’s second most important source of imports, and Chinese enterprises have realised over five billion dollars’ worth of investment in Hungary, and accordingly it is important from the perspective of the future success of the Hungarian economy that bilateral economic cooperation should regain to its previous momentum as soon as possible”, he stated. “The political will for the relaunching of Hungarian-Chinese economic cooperation is present on both sides, and accordingly we have now drawn up a clear schedule for realising this”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“We have agreed to further expand financial cooperation; an agreement on foreign currency exchange has already been concluded between the Hungarian National Bank and China’s central bank, and the will to expand this agreement exists on both sides”, he explained, adding that in his opinion: “Given the current uncertain situation, this could significantly contribute to financial stability”. “Three of China’s four largest banks are already operating in Hungary, or are preparing to being operations, and they will now be joined by the Investment Bank of China, which will be opening an office in Budapest”, he pointed out.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that the high-tech investment projects on the part of Chinese enterprises, which are extremely important to the Hungarian economy, will also be continuing. “Chemical industry company Wanhua will be investing some 300 billion forints (EUR 854 million) in Hungary over the next five years”, he added. He also said that an agreement has been reached with one of the world’s leading computer manufacturing companies on the fact that it will be establishing its first European production unit in Hungary. “In addition, discussions on Hungarian investments will be continuing with China’s largest electric automotive industry companies”, he stated.

“We are also receiving new food industry export licences, thanks to which exports of Hungarian beef and lamb to China will soon begin”, Mr. Szijjártó announced. “In addition, we are also in negotiation concerning the lifting of the previously ordered import ban with relation to poultry meat”, he said. “Work on the modernisation of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line has begun, and rail freight transport between Chungking and Budapest has also recommenced”, he stated.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted the fact that his Hungarian counterpart is the first European foreign minister to visit China following the situation brought on by the coronavirus epidemic, adding that in his opinion: “The visit is extremely important with relation to restoring cooperation.” “China and Hungary regard each other as important partners, and are committed to reinforcing and expanding cooperation, and to developing mutually advantageous cooperation”, he stated.

(MTI/Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)