Interview: China's rise an opportunity not threat, says Hungarian official

People welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest, Hungary, May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Fan)

Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Budapest was a pivotal moment in bilateral relations, and this visit marked a new peak in bilateral relations and was regarded as "crown jewelry," said a Hungarian official.

by Xinhua writers Yin Xiaosheng, Chen Hao

BUDAPEST, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Hungary sees China's emergence as an economic powerhouse as an opportunity, not a threat, Balazs Andras Orban, political director of Hungary's prime minister, has said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Budapest was a pivotal moment in bilateral relations, Orban told Xinhua in a recent interview, adding this visit marked a new peak in bilateral relations and was regarded as "crown jewelry."

As the first European country to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, Hungary has forged a deep and fruitful partnership with China in investment, trade, green development and technological innovation.

"We need practical and pragmatic collaborations," Orban said. "The Belt and Road Initiative is a perfect example of how to do so because it's not just in theory, it's in practice."

Highlighting the Budapest-Belgrade railway as a flagship project of the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Hungary, Orban said the railway, with state-of-the-art technologies, serves as "a perfect example of meeting the needs of the Hungarian people."

People wait for trains at Belgrade railway station in Belgrade, Serbia, April 29, 2024. The Budapest-Belgrade railway is one of the flagship projects of China's Belt and Road Initiative. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Noting the trend towards electric vehicles and the new energy industry, as well as China's world-leading technology in these fields, Orban expressed his expectation for further collaboration in the production and research of promising new technologies, which has the potential to provide a significant boost to the economy.

"This is a win-win situation and it's really a new phase of China-Hungary relationship building. We are very grateful that we have these good companies in Hungary," Orban said.

However, Orban cautioned that there is a growing trend of decoupling from some Western countries, noting that such actions are not in line with the interests of the Hungarian people.

"Instead of decoupling or de-risking, we believe connectivity is the strategy which is working," said Orban. "We need to be able to bring the Eurasian continent together and understand that the world shares a common future."

(Li Ruojia contributed to the story.)