On 30 November 2016, in Beijing the first working group session in the framework of the „One Belt, One Road” initiative was held in four sections: infrastructure, agriculture, finance and culture-education-tourism.
The meeting was preceded by the meeting of Hungarian Foreign Minister Mr. Péter Szijjártó and his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Wang Yi.
István Íjgyártó, Minister of State for Cultural and Science Diplomacy headed the Hungarian delegation of the working group on culture-education-tourism. Members of the delegation represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Human Capacities and the Hungarian Tourism Agency. The Chinese co-chair of the session was Chen Fafen, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Culture.
The meeting offered a good opportunity to the parties to identify areas of cooperation in the fields of culture, education and tourism, which could be realised in the most effective and fruitful way in the short and medium term. Special attention was paid by both parties to the encouragement of cooperation between cultural professional associations and the advancement of translations of literary works and publishing co-operation. Bearing in mind the Kodály memorial year in 2017 the Chinese side responded positively to the concrete Hungarian initiatives on promoting the works and unique teaching method of the world-famous Hungarian composer and musicologist.
Hungary was the first among the European countries that signed a memorandum of understanding with the People’s Republic of China on the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative. The main purposes of this project are promoting trade and investments, enhancing connectivity between Europe and China as well as intensifying cultural exchange.
Although China has concluded similar memorandums of understanding on the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative with several countries since 2015, the first bilateral meeting at working group level was held with the Hungarian side.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
