Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said agreements concluded with the Chinese president during his visit to Budapest will have a positive impact on Hungary’s development in the long term.
Speaking with Kossuth Radio, the foreign minister said the three-day visit Xi Jinping paid to Hungary leading a 400-member delegation is of historic importance from four aspects. The last time a Chinese president visited Hungary was 20 years ago and the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year, he said. China is “way ahead” of the Western economies in terms of the most basic trends in the global economy, and the leader of the strongest country in the pro-peace camp of countries that form a global majority” paid a visit to Hungary at a time of war, Szijjártó said. With the visit, relations between the two countries have been elevated to a level of strategic partnership cooperation, a category in which the Chinese include only five countries, with Hungary being the only one from Europe, said Szijjártó. The minister highlighted the decision by Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD and another three electric battery manufacturers to build plants in Hungary. “With this, we’ve managed to achieve something that has not been witnessed in the history of the Hungarian economy for quite a long time, namely that Hungary is at the forefront of a technological revolution,” Szijjártó said. In addition, he said that “companies participating in the electric automotive industry’s technological revolution and playing a leading role in it consider Hungary as a location not only for production but also for R+D and engineering”. As regards cooperation to be extended to nuclear energy, Minister Szijjártó said the main focus area will be on research and development, the nuclear industry’s possibilities in health science and possibilities in environment protection and recycling. In connection with plans aimed at separating the Chinese and European economies which have been advocated by some left-wing politicians, Szijjártó said such plans must be prevented.