Hungary has received the Chinese party’s financing offer relating to the Belgrade-Budapest railway line project, and negotiations on an inter-state agreement have also begun, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told the correspondent of the Hungarian News Agency MTI in Beijing, after his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Vang Yi late Wednesday evening, local time.
„Both governments are determined to sign all necessary agreements in November at the China-Central-Eastern-Europe summit to be held in Beijing”, the Minister said.
Mr Szijjártó stressed: as a result of intensive efforts made in the last few years, Hungary has become the bridge-head of China’s economic presence in Central-Europe. „As today’s meeting has also confirmed, we continue to have the support of the Chinese Government in the furthering of this process”, he said.
Mr Szijjártó pointed out that Hungarian food industry exports to China increased seven-fold in the first six months of this year, compared with last year’s corresponding period, and in accordance with former agreements, further Hungarian food industry businesses will be granted permission to export their products to China.
The Minister stated that the foreign working capital investments of Chinese companies will reach one thousand billion US dollars in the next 5 to 6 years, and all signs appear to indicate that Hungary is being treated as a priority target country. He added: „As part of this, we shall soon announce another major Chinese investment in Hungary”.
The Minister indicated: it is an important step forward that the Bank of China will open its third European RMB clearing centre in Budapest, whose responsibility it will be to promote the wider use of the Chinese currency in trade between China and Europe.
Mr Szijjártó attended the gala dinner hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, and will attend on Thursday the commemorations and military parade to be organised on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the end of World War II. The Minister will then meet with Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao.
Leaders from dozens of countries from around the world have arrived in China to attend the grandiose parade, including the Russian, South-Korean, Egyptian, South-African and Kazakh presidents. From among the Member States of the European Union, the Czech Republic will be represented by President Milos Zeman, Italy by Foreign Minister Paolo Gentolini, and Poland by Marshal of the Sejm Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)
