FM Szijjártó: “Remarkable economic gains” from strengthened Hungary–China relations

Hungary and China’s strengthened relations “have yielded remarkable economic gains in recent years”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Beijing on Tuesday, adding that this also had a positive impact on people’s everyday lives.

Szijjártó spoke after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán discussed bilateral cooperation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, according to a ministry statement.

Hungary and China signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement six years ago, bolstering their political relations, “which has also yielded extraordinary economic achievements”, the minister said. Chinese investments, he added, had brought advanced technologies to Hungary and created masses of jobs.

Szijjártó said China’s Belt and Road and the Hungarian government’s strategy of opening up to the East complemented each other. The two countries also developed close cooperation during the pandemic, helping to save lives, he said, noting that Hungary delivered medical equipment to China, while China delivered vaccines to Hungary.

The minister said Xi had made it clear that cooperation between Europe and China should be about relationships rather than hostility, and Orban reaffirmed that the Chinese president could count on Hungary in this regard.

“In Europe, we also represent a position that is based on rationality with the aim of boosting Chinese-European connectivity and economic cooperation, because it is absolutely clear that European economies can also put Chinese modernisation to their advantage,” Szijjártó said.

China considers Hungary a reliable partner which has always represented “the policy of common sense”, basing its relations on mutual respect, the minister said.

“It’s not our job to comment on the internal affairs of other countries such as China,” Szijjártó said. “Our job isn’t to tell the citizens of other countries, such as the Chinese, how they should live. Let’s leave this to them. Our agenda is limited to the development of bilateral ties, and we don’t concern ourselves with issues that are none of our business.”

“Cooperation is based on mutual respect and focused on shared interests from which we benefit significantly,” he said.

Szijjártó said this was something the current government’s and the previous left-wing governments’ foreign policies had in common, noting former Hungarian prime minister Peter Medgyessy’s efforts to boost ties with China.