With the work of the past decade, we have achieved that Hungary now plays the role of a bridge in the economic cooperation between Europe and China, Mihály Varga said in a press release from the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, after he held talks with Chinese Finance Minister Lan Foan in Beijing.
Mihály Varga announced in Beijing: Hungary’s bridge between Europe and China / Photo: AFP
The Hungarian minister highlighted,
China has now become Hungary’s largest non-European investor
and became its most important trading partner, our financial relations are constantly strengthening. The position of the Hungarian government is clear: instead of blocking and seclusion, we need to strengthen economic cooperation between Europe and China. In accordance with this, the government continues the policy of opening up to the East, thanks to which the economic relations between Hungary and China are getting stronger every year.
China is Hungary’s ninth most important trade partner according to last year’s data, its share in total Hungarian foreign trade reaches 4 percent, making it Hungary’s most important non-European partner. The head of the ministry pointed out that last year most investments came to Hungary from China, and today our country has become the number one destination for Chinese investments in Europe.
Mihály Varga indicated that he and the Chinese finance minister agreed that the infrastructural connection of the two countries should be further developed, especially direct air transport. This is also confirmed by the agreement reached on Tuesday, which strengthens Hungary’s role as a logistics distributor in the Central-Eastern European region with a new, regular air freight flight.
Speaking about the modernization of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, Mihály Varga highlighted: the tripartite cooperation between Hungary, China and Serbia creates a vital link in the railway connection, which offers the fastest alternative for freight transport between Western Europe and the Greek port of Piraeus. Today, China is the world’s second largest economy, and the strengthening Hungarian-Chinese economic, logistical and financial relations, as well as high-tech investments, will significantly contribute to the growth of the Hungarian economy in the coming years.
Previously, it was possible to hear that the renovation was delayed. However, it has now become clear that, if everything goes well, the construction of the Hungarian section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway and the complete renovation of line 150 will soon come to an end. All of this would mean that it would be possible to cover the distance between the Serbian and Hungarian capitals in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
