BREAKING: PM Orbán starts the day in Beijing, continues in Washington
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to China on Sunday night, Bertalan Havasi, Viktor Orbán’s press chief, confirmed press reports.
PM Orbán in Beijing, China
In response to a Telex inquiry, Bertalan Havasi wrote that “Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s peace mission continues; the PM arrived in Beijing early Monday morning. Viktor Orbán will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the day”.
According to his Facebook post, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó is also in China. Orbán wrote on his social networking site that after Kyiv and Moscow, they had arrived in Beijing, the third stop of the peace mission.
Orbán flies to Washington
“Next stop: Washington”, Orbán wrote on his Instagram story shortly after 8.30 AM Hungarian time on Monday morning, accompanied by a photo of a plane taking off from Beijing airport, Telex reports.
The Hungarian Prime Minister is likely to travel to the US capital for the NATO summit, which will take place between 9 and 11 July.
Orbán: China’s advocating peace crucial
“China’s advocating peace across the world is important for Hungarians,” Orbán said on Monday in Beijing, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Hungarians are a peace-loving people striving for peace, balance, and harmony, therefore we are always on the side of peace and never war,” the prime minister said. “China’s urging that there should be peace rather than war in the world is of great significance for us,” he said.
“With regard to the conflict in Hungary’s neighbourhood, we also greatly appreciate your peace initiative,” Orbán said, addressing his remark to the Chinese president.
Orbán called Xi’s visit to Hungary two months ago of historic significance and noted the weighty agreements they had signed. “What is more, the foundations were laid for the two peoples’ friendship for several generations … Xi’s visit was convincing and cordial, and reflected China’s goodwill and respect for Hungary,” he said.
“Generations will benefit from that visit, from the memories of the visit you paid to Budapest,” Orbán said, and thanked Xi for his efforts to elevate bilateral ties to a higher level.
“We have been working for the past two months to fill that framework with substance,” Orbán said, noting that the two countries’ delegations had been making progress inn cooperation.
Orbán congratulated Xi on “the stability China means for the world amid stormy global politics”.
Szijjártó: Hungary-China cooperation ‘solid foundation’ for Hungary’s economic growth
Hungary’s economic, trade and investment cooperation with China will provide a “solid foundation” for the country’s economic growth in the coming years, Péter Szijjártó said in Beijing on Monday.
He welcomed that China’s leaders supported the further development of that cooperation, adding that Chinese companies at the forefront of the car industry revolution would continue to bring investments to Hungary, the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying.
Chinese leaders also support a further increase in the number of Chinese tourists coming to visit Hungary and back the presence of even more Hungarian food products on the Chinese market, he added.
Chinese companies have 6,400 billion forints (EUR 16bn) worth of investments under way, creating 25,000 jobs directly and “turning Hungary into one of the world-class centres of the global automotive revolution and technological renewal.”
Read also:
- Breaking – Viktor Orbán arrives in Moscow, continues ‘peace mission’ with talks with Putin
- BREAKING: PM Orbán in Kyiv for talks with President Zelensky – a step towards peace?
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