Prime Minister in Talks with Chairman of China Construction Bank

Hungary Today 2023.10.17.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with Tian Guoli, Chairman of the China Construction Bank (CCB), in Beijing on Monday, Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s press chief, announced, presenting a joint press statement by the two sides.

Tian Guoli received the high-ranking delegation on October 16, led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, reports Magyar Nemzet. They reviewed the friendly dialogue and cooperation with Hungary in recent years, and

the Chinese leader expressed his appreciation for the fruitful results achieved in recent years by the Eastern Opening policy and the One Belt One Road Initiative in China, supported by the Hungarian Prime Minister.

The host thanked the Hungarian government and the CCB’s Hungarian branch for their guidance and support, and made clear that the CCB will take the opening of the Hungarian branch as a new starting point to provide better financial services to clients in both countries and further boost the bilateral partnership.

Fact

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán introduced his government’s Eastern Opening policy at a September 5, 2010, meeting of the Hungarian Permanent Council in Budapest, during which he declared that “We are sailing under a Western flag, though an Eastern wind is blowing in the world economy.” The explicit objective of this policy is to reduce the dependency of Hungary’s economy on trade with the West, particularly fellow European Union members, through increased commerce with countries in the East, particularly China.

“Hungary boasts more than ten Nobel Prize winners and this year two more Hungarian scientists have been awarded Nobel Prizes, once again showing the world the scientific and innovative talents of Hungarians,” highlighted Guoli.

“In recent years, CCB has made significant progress in the field of financial technology (FinTech) solutions.

Now, CCB has established a FinTech product innovation laboratory in Hungary to leverage the Chinese market capacity and fundamentals, as well as the technological know-how of both countries, to explore future directions in the FinTech field in cooperation with Hungary,”

the Chinese partner emphasized.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán noted that in the current geopolitical situation, Hungary remains committed to the Eastern Opening and to strengthening dialogue and cooperation with China. He thanked the CCB for its support to Hungary in recent years.

The prime minister celebrated the opening of the CCB’s Hungarian branch and called it a wise decision. As relations between the two countries have grown closer in recent years, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has reached the next level with a significant increase, the prime minister said, adding that CCB is a welcome partner in Hungary’s electric vehicle manufacturing and new energy projects, as well as in cooperation in a number of other areas.

Fact

China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is one of the “big four” banks in China. In 2015, CCB was the second largest bank in the world by market capitalization and the sixth largest company in the world. The bank has approximately 13,629 domestic branches. Its headquarters are in Beijing.

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Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured image via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán