Orbán discusses bilateral ties with Chinese president

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed their countries’ relations at their meeting on the sidelines of the Chinese International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Monday, Orbán’s press chief said.

They praised the deepening cooperation in several areas over the past years with Orbán highlighting an unprecedented boost in bilateral ties over the past decade, Bertalan Havasi told MTI.

Xi noted that Hungary had been among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China, the 70th anniversary of which would be celebrated next year.

Hungary will duly commemorate the anniversary with preparations already under way, Orbán said.

The Chinese president commended Hungary for its stability and progress made over the past years.

He invited Orbán to attend a high-level forum Beijing will host as part of China’s Belt and Road initiative next year.

Among bilateral business projects they agreed to further promote the upgrade of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line.

For that matter, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó held talks with Chan Chung Sing, the Singaporean minister of trade and industry and they discussed boosting economic ties and expanding Hungarian meat exports to Singapore.

The EU and Singapore signed a free trade agreement in Brussels two weeks ago, Szijjártó told public media after the talks, expressing hope that the EP would move fast to ratify the agreement.

“This can open new possibilities for Hungarian companies,” he said.

Hungary’s exports well exceed 80 percent of the country’s GDP, Szijjártó noted. “The fewer obstacles in world trade, the better for us,” he said.

Singapore is an important target of Hungarian meat exporters, Szijjártó noted. An additional five meat production companies have now obtained an export licence to Singapore, raising the number of such companies to 23, he said.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI