State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó held talks with local government officials and managers of large Chinese companies in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Mr Szijjártó, who is also government commissioner for Chinese–Hungarian trade relations, held an opening address at an international investment conference in Shanghai, and participated at a panel discussion with Iowa's deputy governor Kim Reynolds and managers of large Chinese companies.

He visited the recently opened Shanghai free trade zone, which could play an important part in the development of Hungarian–Chinese economic cooperation, considering the fact that 40% of Hungarian–Chinese trade is conducted via Shanghai. Meeting the deputy general secretary of the Shanghai municipality, who is also deputy CEO of the managing committee of the free trade zone, Mr Szijjártó said that Hungary managed to achieve a surplus in Hungarian–Shanghai trade for the first time in 2012. To maintain this trend, Hungary "strives for close cooperation in the area of water management developments," he said.

(Prime Minister’s Office)