Finance Minister meets Chinese counterpart in Beijing

Written by BT/MTI

Finance Minister Mihaly Varga has met Lan Fo’an, his Chinese counterpart, in Beijing, the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Efforts in the past decade have resulted in making Hungary a bridge in economic cooperation between Europe and China,” the statement quoted the minister as saying. China has now become Hungary’s largest investor outside Europe and “its most important trading partner”, Varga said, adding that bilateral financial ties “are constantly strengthening”.

According to 2023 data, China is Hungary’s 9th largest trading partner, bilateral trade accounting for 4 percent of Hungary’s total turnover, the statement said.

Among China’s investment projects in Hungary, Varga mentioned the CATL project worth a total 3,000 billion forints, Huayou Cobalt investing 520 billion forints and BYD using a budget of “several billion euros”.

The two ministers agreed that building further infrastructure links between the two countries was necessary, with special regard to direct flights, Varga said, noting a Tuesday agreement to launch a new cargo flight which could “further increase Hungary’s role as a logistics hub in central Europe”.