Representing the Ministry of National Development, Dániel Mendelényi, head of the Secretariat of the Commissioner for the Co-ordination of Hungarian-Chinese Bilateral Relations delivered a lecture on the achievements and perspectives of Hungarian-Chinese co-operation at the China Hi-Tech Fair conference in Budapest on 13 September 2011.

In his lecture Dániel Mendelényi stressed that as a result of the uninterrupted consultations conducted by the Government Commission for the Co-ordination of Hungarian-Chinese Bilateral Relations since the Chinese Prime Minister’s June 2011 visit to Hungary, a new competitiveness-improving and job-creating agreement had been added to the Hungarian-Chinese bilateral relations. He pointed out that in addition to co-operation between Hungary and China, this framework agreement provides an opportunity for Hungary to become a gate for technology transfer and scientific co-operation between the Central European region, the European Union and China. Concerted action, which relies, among others, on the Hungarian research capacity, may give significant impetus to the development of Hungarian R&D and innovation, and moderate the adverse impacts of brain drain.

Zsolt Semjén (photo: Csaba Pelsőczy)

In addition, BGI is the leading biotechnological research institution of the entire Asian continent, and has developed exceptionally rapidly even in the anyway dynamic Chinese context. By now, the institute has grown beyond the means available in Shenzhen and China, and has started building a global network. The major success achieved by the research institute was its participation in mapping the Human genome, and by now it has established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications. In health care, the organisation has grown to become a key player in screening foetal anomalies and biomedical research programmes aimed at treating infertility problems.

Dániel Mendelényi (photo: Tamás Szigeti)

In the first half of the programme, which was of outstanding significance for boosting Hungarian-Chinese economic and business relations, lectures were delivered about Hungarian-Chinese relations, the business opportunities inherent in them and the directions of development, among others, by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén; head of the Secretariat of the Commissioner for the Co-ordination of Hungarian-Chinese Bilateral Relations Dániel Mendelényi; President of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers, Sándor Demján; Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China in Hungary, Gao Jian; Deputy Director of the China Hi-Tech Fair Organising Committee and Vice-Mayor of Shenzhen, Yuan Baocheng.

The Fourth China Hi-Tech Fair conference and business forum was organised by the Ministry of National Development. The event focussed primarily on businesses, investors and professional associations interested in technologies and investments related to infocommunication, biotechnology, energy efficiency and environment protection, and provided them with an opportunity for the direct solicitation of partners. At the partnership forum that followed the conference, the participating Hungarian firms had an opportunity to conduct talks with the Chinese companies on prospective future co-operation.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)