Xi Jinping came to Hungary: Ukraine is on the agenda

Xi Jinping can count on a warm welcome in the country, as Hungary is an important trade and investment partner of the PRC.

President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping is visiting Hungary today, where he will meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. As Reuters writes , the war in Ukraine and infrastructure projects are on the agenda.

Orbán met the Chinese leader in the evening of May 8 at the airport, posting a photo on Twitter .

As Reuters points out, Xi Jinping can count on a warm welcome in the country, as Hungary is an important partner of the PRC in the field of trade and investment, unlike other EU countries, which are considering the possibility of diversification and reducing dependence on China.

“We have developed deep friendships with Hungarian politicians, and Hungary is the number one target in the Central and Eastern European region for Chinese investment,” Xi wrote in the pro-government Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet.

In addition, Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Sijarto said that Ukraine will occupy an important place on the agenda of the negotiations in Budapest.

Hungary and China are also expected to sign 16 to 18 new cooperation agreements, one of which could be a large-scale infrastructure project under China’s massive Belt and Road project.

Orbán began working to bring his country closer to Beijing immediately after coming to power in 2010. One of the biggest investors, CATL, is currently building a €7.3 billion battery plant in Debrecen, while Chinese electric car maker BYD late last year announced the construction of its first European plant in southern Szeged.

Xi Jinping’s tour of Europe

Earlier, UNIAN wrote that for the first time in five years, Chinese President Xi Jinping went on a European tour, planning to visit France, Serbia and Hungary.

The stops chosen by the Chinese leader are quite understandable from Beijing’s point of view. For strategic and economic reasons, China is very keen to disrupt the unity of both NATO and the EU. Each of the three countries visited by Xi is seen as a potential lever to shake the West.

Also, during a visit to France, Xi reacted sharply to criticism of his country for close relations with Russia during the war in Ukraine. In particular, he stated that “he was not at the origins of this crisis, was not a party to it and did not participate in it.”

(C)UNIAN 2024