Orbán: China appreciates robust growth in Central Europe

China appreciates that economic growth in central and eastern Europe is twice the European average, the Hungarian prime minister said on Monday in his address at the Chinese International Import Expo (CIIE) organised for the first time in Shanghai.

At the opening ceremony, attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials, Viktor Orbán said that Hungary’s inclusion on the “list of giants invited to the expo” is also thanks to the central European region.

Hungary represents the region that has become the engine of Europe’s growth, he said.

Those countries’ convergent economic and social policies made sure that they could preserve their national, political and cultural identities in the face of substantial pressure posed by illegal migration, he said.

China has set up the 16+1 group, comprising 16 central and eastern European countries and China, to strengthen ties with the region, he said. Hungary is dedicated to boosting those relations, Orbán said, noting that the leaders of the group’s national banks will meet in Budapest in the near future.

Hungary also has a vested interest in the success of China’s Belt and Road initiative, he said.