Chinese-Hungarian Relations Reach a New Level

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2019

Hungary’s “Opening to the East” strategy is a sign that the Orbán government has recognized the transformation of the world order, and that is why it has raised Chinese-Hungarian relations to a new level, according to China expert Levente Horváth.

“We are witnessing a transformation of the world order. The center of gravity of the world economy is shifting to the East, and the unipolar world order following the Cold War is changing into a multipolar world order,” the director of the Eurasia Center at John von Neumann University writes in an op-ed published in China Daily.

We sail under the Western flag, but today an eastern wind is blowing in the world economy,”

Levente Horváth quoted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from 2010. He pointed out that since the start of the “Opening to the East” strategy, political, economic, and cultural relations between Hungary and China have become significantly stronger.

According to the expert, there are essentially five main elements to taking relations to a new level.

• Policy coordination: “Hungary played a major role in establishing cooperation between China and the Central Eastern European (CEEC) countries in 2012, which is also of prime importance in the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2015, Hungary was the first to join the initiative, and in 2018, Budapest hosted the seventh China-CEEC summit.”
• Infrastructure connectivity: Today, there are direct flights between Budapest and three Chinese cities; the Budapest-Belgrade railway project is a priority project of the Belt and Road Initiative, and Hungary is an important logistics center, as 15 percent of China’s total European imports pass through Hungary.
• Unimpeded trade: China has now become one of Hungary’s most important trade partners outside the European Union.
• Financial integration: The Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and China Development Bank all operate in Hungary, and large Chinese companies such as Huawei, BYD, NIO, Lenovo, Wanhua, and ZTE have also chosen Hungary as their headquarters for the Central and Eastern European region.
• Connecting people: Hungary is home to the largest Chinese community in Central Europe; in addition to the Chinese Cultural Center, there are five Confucius Institutes in the country, and the number of Chinese university students in Hungary is growing rapidly.

Chinese companies are choosing Hungary, because in addition to “Hungary’s geographical location in the heart of Europe, the important factor is that Hungary’s political and economic situation is stable, and thus Hungary offers Chinese companies predictability and a stable business environment,” Levente Horváth points out.

Featured photo via Miniszterelnök.hu/Szecsődi Balázs/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda