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Finance Minister: Hungary is strengthening its role as a financial hub in CEE

With bilateral trade reaching more than EUR 12bn a year, China is Hungary's biggest trading partner outside of the EU.

Finance Minister Mihály Varga met with Bank of China Vice President Lin Jingzhen in his office in the capital on Tuesday, his ministry said in a statement.

After the meeting, Minister Varga said Hungary is strengthening its role as a financial hub in Central and Eastern Europe.

He added that Hungary was already a "bridgehead" for cooperation between Europe and Asia, thanks to the government's Eastern Opening policy, and was the number one destination for Chinese FDI in the CEE region.

He highlighted a HUF 3,000bn investment by CATL, a HUF 520bn one by Huayou Cobalt and a HUF 400bn one by EVE Power, as well as an EV plant by BYD that will cost several billion euros, among the Chinese investments in Hungary.

With bilateral trade reaching more than EUR 12bn a year, China is Hungary's biggest trading partner outside of the EU, he said. A number of Chinese banks have also picked Hungary for their bases of operation in a show of confidence in the local economy, he added.

He noted that Hungary had been the first sovereign in the world to issue a green panda bond, in 2021, organized by the Bank of China.