Prime Minister Viktor Orbán considers the bilateral meetings with Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier to an extraordinary success, marking a milestone in Chinese-Hungarian relations. The Chinese Premier, who came for a two-day visit to Hungary, had talks with the Hungarian Prime Minister on Saturday in the Parliament Building.
Mr. Orbán said that Hungary welcomed Wen Jiabao with the honour due to the Chinese nation. Speaking about China, the Hungarian Prime Minister said that the country has not only promoted the development of its own people in recent years, but its performance has also contributed to global prosperity. There are no examples in world history of so many people being raised out of poverty anywhere in such a short period of time, he pointed out.
Speaking about the negotiations, the Hungarian Prime Minister said that new and important alliances have been concluded with the Government of the People's Republic of China: twelve agreements have been signed, which contain specific programmes, investments and financial arrangements.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Hungary has strong allies within the Euro-Atlantic system of relations. In order for the ongoing renewal and economic upturn in our country to succeed, however, we also need new allies. The current negotiations have been taken place so that China and Hungary can be allies.’
In response to a journalist's question, the Prime Minister said that Chinese investments will be promoted by – in addition to the recently signed agreement – the creation of a new Chinese-Hungarian business forum, the removal of bureaucratic obstacles, and awareness-raising of China among young people. Mr. Orbán stressed that the strong foundations necessary for developing relationships exist, and that both countries are committed to economies based on work.
In his speech, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also emphasised the fact that the new relationship is built on solid foundations, and he said that in order to do business successfully the two countries should first of all be friends. Many changes have taken place in the two countries since the last official visit twenty-one years ago, but the friendly cooperation has remained, and this visit strengthens that cooperation, he added.
With regard to the negotiations, the Chinese Premier stressed that China believes in Hungary’s development, and thus it will purchase Hungarian government bonds; China's State Development Bank will extend a special credit line of one billion dollars to Hungary for the promotion of mutual investment projects; by 2015 it is envisaged that trade relations will have developed to a level of twenty billion dollars; and significant Chinese chemical industry investments are expected in Hungary. Hungary could also be a European logistics centre for the Chinese economy. In addition to this, the Chinese Premier also announced that in order to promote human relationships, mutual scholarship programmes will provide exchange programmes for Hungarian and Chinese students, and cultural centres are also planned.
Wen Jiabao arrived in Hungary on Friday. On his first day he met young people at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in the Gólyavár Centre, where he talked with the students as part of a cultural programme. In his speech he said that he trusts in deepening friendship, and in economic, scientific and educational relations between the two peoples, and drew attention to the fact that to promote development, countries have to open up towards each other, and have to learn from each other.
The Chinese Premier invited Prime Minister Orbán on an official visit to China next year, which the Prime Minister accepted.
After talks between the two premiers, Wen Jiabao participated in a Central-Eastern European Economic Forum at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, at which many leading EU politicians were present. After that, he was received by President Pál Schmitt and the Speaker of Parliament László Kövér.
(kormany.hu)
