Xi Jinping praises Sino-Hungarian relations

A pro-government columnist writes that China appreciates Hungary’s courage in opening to the East.

Winding up his talks with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, President Xi Jinping of China said, ‘we are willing to take this as a new starting point to move co-operation towards a higher level’. China will also build new railway lines in Hungary, in addition to the Budapest-Belgrade railway project, he announced. PM Orbán added that the two sides agreed on expanding cooperation to the nuclear industry.

In Magyar Nemzet, Levente Sitkei finds one striking similarity in the approaches of the two countries towards international relations, namely that both are guided by pragmatism. Hungary, he writes, is expected by the European Union to follow ideological considerations in managing economic ties with the rest of the world, but its leaders opted for an Eastern Opening bearing in mind the country’s own interests. As a result, Sitkei writes, Hungary is now more than just one of the many countries of Central Europe in the eyes of China’s leaders.

Tags: China, Orbán, Xi Jinping