Beijing considers Hungary bridgehead to Europe, says Chinese formin

Beijing (MTI) – Hungary is a bridgehead in Chinese-European cooperation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto on Tuesday.

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Wang expressed hope that Hungary will continue to fulfil this role, Szijjarto told MTI after the talks.

“It is very much perceptible that regional cooperation between China and the CEE region is handled as a priority in Beijing and China appreciates Hungary acting as a bridgehead,” he said.

Hungary has attracted the highest Chinese investment in central Europe, at around 3.5 billion dollars, Szijjarto said, adding that China would be going to step up investments abroad and Central Europe would obviously be a beneficiary of this endeavour. Wang said the Hungarian government’s “opening to the east” policy and the Chinese government’s “Silk Road diplomacy” concept are clearly reinforcing each other. Szijjarto added that Hungary represents one of the best transport routes for Chinese exports to Europe.

The minister noted that Hungary has been the first to set up a hub for regional tourism cooperation with China. Hungary’s Eximbank has been so far the only bank that contributed 30 million dollars to a 500 million dollar central European investment bank set up by China, he added.