State Secretary for External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó signed an agreement in the Parliament building on Friday on opening a Confucius Institute in Miskolc. The State Secretary emphasised: the Institute has been established through the cooperation of the University of Miskolc, the Beijing University of Chemical Technology and the Chinese Language Council. The Institute will play an important economic role in the life of Miskolc and act as a bridge between the two countries within the field of strategic cooperation.

Confucius Institutes play a principal role in spreading Chinese culture and language worldwide, he said. 350 such Institutes operate all throughout world, and 5000 university applications are waiting to be adjudicated in their Beijing-based centre. In Hungary, the Eötvös Lóránd University has been home to such an Institute since December 2006; it employs 30 native Chinese teachers across the country and has won the Chinese Language Council's certificate of excellence three times. A second Institute has been operating in Szeged since October 2012, and the new Institute in Miskolc will be the third of its kind in Hungary.

The State Secretary highlighted: the building and continuous development of strategic connections with China is one of the pillars of Hungary’s eastern opening policy.

Rector of the University of Miskolc András Torma stated that it is important for the Hungarian higher education system to produce students with proper skills and excellent foreign language knowledge for the labour market.

Wang Fang, Secretary of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, expressed his gratitude to both the Hungarian and Chinese governments and emphasised: in addition to cooperation in language teaching and culture, an outstanding role could also be played by scientific cooperation.

(Prime Minister’s Office)