Orbán’s minister: China sees Hungary as regional financial hub

Financial cooperation is a fast-growing area of Hungarian-Chinese relations, Mihály Varga, the finance minister, said on Wednesday after meeting banking heads in Beijing, noting that Hungary planned to issue a Panda bond in the second half of this year.

“Hungary is a bridgehead for Chinese banks entering the European financial market,” he said in a statement after consulting Bank of China, China Construction Bank and China Development Bank chiefs.

Chinese banks “have trust in the Hungarian economy”, he said, noting that several Chinese banks have selected Hungary as a base in recent years.

Varga added that Hungary has also entered the Chinese financial market, issuing government bonds on the Chinese and Hong Kong bond markets, thus ensuring the country had several financial pillars.

He noted that in 2021 Hungary issued the first ever Green Panda bond on the Chinese market and a green government bond worth 1 billion renminbi (EUR 128m), adding that Hungary planned to issue a Panda bond in the second half of this year too, with a view to strengthening the security of Hungarian debt management.

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