“The pavilion of Hungary, which is taking part in the 13th China Henan International Investment and Trade Fair as guest of honour, places emphasis on Hungarian innovation and presenting the investment environment it offers to foreign companies”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Deputy State Secretary for Increasing Exports István Joó said in a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Monday.

“Several Hungarian enterprises are taking part in the expo and trade fair being organised for the 13th time in Zhengzhou, capital of the Central Chinese province of Henan, and amongst others, premium quality wines, champagnes and food products are being showcased to visitors at the Hungarian pavilion”, he added.

“Hungarian exports to Henan, which are predominantly composed of automotive, health and chemical industry products and services, increased by over 10 percent in 2018”, he highlighted. Mr. Joó, who heads the Hungarian delegation, told the press that he had met with Province Secretary Wang Guosheng, with whom he reviewed economic relations and development opportunities between Hungary and Henan. The parties agreed that the most favourable opportunities for cooperation between Hungary and Henan Province exist within the fields of agriculture, the food industry, water management, the automotive industry, the health industry and the machine industry. While in Zhengzhou, the Deputy State Secretary will also be holding talks with the representatives of the Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery (ZMJ) Group.

The company, which was established in 1958 and is listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, is one of the world’s largest developers and manufacturers of mining machinery. ZMJ was the first company from Henan to realise a major investment in Hungary when it took over the Miskolc ignition motor and generator manufacturing unit of the Bosch Group, one of Hungary’s largest foreign employers, which it continues to operate as an independent company under the name Starters E-Components Generators Automotive. In addition, the head of the Hungarian delegation will also be holding talks with representatives of civil air traffic development company Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment.

“Trade flow between Hungary and China increased by some 10 percent to almost 9 billion dollars”, the Deputy State Secretary highlighted, citing as an example of the promotion of Chinese-Hungarian trade relations the Hungarian Trade Centre opened in Shanghai last November. As one of the guests of honour at the China Henan Fair, Hungary was asked to present its economy, culture and tourism opportunities: on Monday afternoon local time a China-Hungary business forum will be held at which high-ranking government officials and company directors will be explaining their regulations and business policies, and opportunities for cooperation between Henan and Hungary will be discussed.

Henan province uses the expo and trade fair as a bridge to the outside world, and to reinforce its economic and trade relations. This year, the main topics of the fair are high added value technological products, electric and hybrid vehicles, electronics equipment, and food industry, agricultural, health industry and medical instrument products. The event will be attended by 20 thousand people from the world’s 89 countries, Great Britain and Germany were the guests of honour in 2017 and 2018, respectively, while this year Hungary shares the title with Thailand.

Henan, which has a population of almost 100 million, is China’s third most highly populated province and one of the country’s important centres for agriculture, logistics and transport. Last year, the province’s GDP totalled some 4.8 billion Yuan (EUR 634 million), achieving year-on-year growth of 7.5 percent and exceeding the national average GDP growth by a full percentage point. It’s capital Zhengzhou, which has a population of ten million, was one of the starting points of the historic Silk Road, and remains a key location for China’s One Belt, One Road global economic infrastructure plan.

(MTI)