Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang welcomed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with military honors in Beijing, after which they held bilateral talks.
Li Xiang emphasized that despite the geographical distance, the two countries are connected by a strong, old friendship. He added: China appreciates that Hungary was the first European state to sign the Belt and Road economic cooperation. He said: our bilateral relations are friendly and have fruitful results.
Viktor Orbán also emphasized personal friendship and fruitful cooperation. He emphasized that our political friendship also has deeper, cultural foundations. He reminded: now will be the 75th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two countries.
We are a good friend of China in Europe, and we have good hopes for further cooperation, said the Hungarian Prime Minister.
Viktor Orbán reminded: now will be the 75th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two countries.
He also pointed out that they had established fruitful cooperation and personal friendship with former prime ministers.
He also spoke about the fact that political friendship has a deeper, cultural basis.
It is no coincidence that Hungary was the first to recognize China in the Soviet bloc, and it is the only Central European state that consistently stuck to the "one China" principle from the beginning, said the Prime Minister.
He also mentioned that Chinese President Xi Jinping received him for the first time in 2009, when Xi was still vice president and Viktor Orbán led the opposition. They are negotiating again on Tuesday, and this will be their seventh meeting, which also shows the friendship between the two peoples.
I will do everything to pursue a foreign policy towards China worthy of the example of our predecessors, Viktor Orbán stated.
Li Xiang stated that the two countries are bound by close friendship, which also promoted the development of bilateral relations at the highest level. He said that Hungarian-Chinese relations had reached their best period so far, and a new kind of international relationship had been established.
After the meeting, several intergovernmental agreements were signed in the presence of the Prime Ministers, including key bilateral projects of the China-initiated One Belt, One Road initiative, the educational, industrial and investment cooperation program, as well as an agreement on economic and technological development, the digital economy and in the field of climate protection.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will participate in the third summit of the One Belt, One Road Forum on Tuesday and Wednesday. He also spoke at the previous two summits, in 2017 and 2019.
China is Hungary's ninth most important trading partner, and again this year it is our country's largest foreign direct investor.
MTI
