Hungarian foreign minister praises Hungary-China cooperation in Sofia

Cooperation between Hungary and China is expanding dynamically in all areas, Hungary’s foreign minister told public media in Sofia on Friday.

Péter Szijjártó is in the Bulgarian capital with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s delegation for an annual China-CEE “16+1” summit held on Friday and Saturday.

The Hungarian delegation on Friday met Chinese premier Li Keqiang and Bank of China chairman Chen Siqing.

Szijjártó said trade turnover between Hungary and China broke every record last year.

He called

the upgrade of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line the “flagship” project of China-Hungary and China-CEE cooperation.

Hungary will do its utmost to ensure that cooperation between China and central and eastern European countries continues to expand, Szijjarto said. As a way of further promoting China-CEE cooperation, Budapest will play host to a meeting of the central bank heads of the 17 countries, he added.

It has also been decided that the centre of the “16+1” development bank cooperation will be set up in Budapest, he said.

To mark next year’s 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Hungary and China have decided to put together a long-term, 5-7-point action plan with a view to elevating bilateral ties to a “new dimension”, Szijjártó said. The action plan will be compiled by the Hungarian-Chinese economic mixed committee.

The plan will cover economic cooperation, infrastructure developments as well as education cooperation with the aim to improve Hungary’s and the central European region’s competitiveness and deepen ties with China, the minister said.

Szijjártó is also scheduled to meet the energy ministers of Bulgaria and Serbia later on Friday.

As we wrote on June, the Budapest-Belgrade high-speed railway line must be completed by the end of 2023 at the latest”, Szijjártó, who was on a three-day official visit to China, read more HERE.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI