Joint Press Release on the Second China-Hungary Belt and Road Working Group Meeting
1. On 12 July 2019, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi of the People’s Republic of China and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Szijjártó Péter of Hungary co-chaired the second China-Hungary Belt and Road working group meeting in Budapest.
2. The two sides highly commended the good momentum in the growth of bilateral relations and reiterated that the two sides view each other as long-term and solid strategic partners and see each other’s development as important opportunities for mutual benefit. The two sides agreed to carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Hungary. As this year marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the two sides will further enhance political trust, strengthen synergy between their strategies, expand exchanges and cooperation across the board, and utilize such platforms as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China-CEEC Cooperation to deepen the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. Considering the complex and profound changes in the international situation, the two sides will strengthen communication and coordination in regional and international affairs, jointly uphold multilateralism and the rules-based multilateral trading system, and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.
3. The meeting reviewed the progress in various areas of cooperation under the BRI framework since the inaugural China-Hungary Belt and Road Working Group Meeting. All parties agreed to build on such progress and continue implementing the MOU between the two governments on jointly advancing the BRI and the bilateral cooperation plan. In the framework of the China-Hungary Cooperation Center the Hungarian and Chinese sides will work together to release a list of priority projects to jointly advance the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.. The participating agencies had in-depth exchange of views, particularly surrounding the promotion of infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial cooperation and people-to-people bond.
4. The two sides agreed to further strengthen connectivity cooperation, jointly accelerate the construction of the Hungarian section of the Hungary-Serbia Railway, and enhance the market competitiveness of the China Railway Express between China and Hungary.
5. The two sides stressed the importance to further strengthen bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation and encourage third market cooperation. The two sides reiterated the necessity to provide a level playing field for businesses and to give full play to existing dialogue mechanisms, including the China-CEEC Ministerial Meeting on Promoting Trade and Economic Cooperation, the China-Hungary Economic Joint Committee and its Working Group for Unimpeded Trade, and trade and investment promotion platforms such as the China International Import Expo and the China-CEEC Expo. The two sides support the strengthening of exchanges and cooperation between trade and investment promotion agencies and between companies of the two countries.
6. The two sides will further strengthen agricultural cooperation, support bilateral frameworks including the China-Hungary Agricultural Science and Technology Cooperation Promoting Center in playing a greater role, work closer in agricultural investment and research and development, expand the scale of trade in agricultural products and contribute to the success of the activities under the Year of China-CEEC Agricultural Diversity Cooperation in 2020.
7. The two sides will deepen customs cooperation, ease access to each other’s markets of agricultural products and deepen exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and food safety. Under the prerequisite of ensuring safety, the two sides will facilitate the entry of relevant Hungarian food and agricultural products to China. The two sides will jointly advance the institutionalized cooperation under the BRI framework.
8. The two sides decided to deepen financial cooperation and identify new modes and mechanisms of cooperation to support China-Hungary trade and investment, SMEs and infrastructure development so as to achieve mutual benefit. The two sides will continue to support the work of the China-CEEC Inter-Bank Association. The Hungarian side welcome Chinese financial institutions in Hungary.
9. The two sides hope to strengthen results-oriented cooperation in the field of renewable energy, deepen and expand the Belt and Road Energy Partnership and energy cooperation in the China-CEEC format, and jointly promote high-quality development of the energy sector of the two countries.
10. The two sides attach importance to bilateral cooperation in science and technological innovation. The two sides will further enhance exchanges between scientists and technological professionals of the two countries, support research institutes, companies and other organizations of the two countries in conducting joint R&D and cooperation in priority areas agreed to by both sides, encourage the establishment of R&D centers, and facilitate the commercialization and application of research results.
11. The two sides will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in pollution control, environmental technologies and other fields concerning environment protection, jointly build a green Belt and Road and enhance institution building for China-CEEC cooperation on environment protection. The two sides will continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in water resource management, flood and drought prevention and management and other fields of water management.
12. The two sides will continue to deepen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, facilitate travel of the people, work for an early renewal of the bilateral work plan for cultural cooperation, support education institutions of the two countries in strengthening exchanges, explore diverse forms of joint education programs, strengthen tourism cooperation and encourage people-to-people exchanges at the sub-national level.
13. The two sides have all along agreed on the importance of strengthening experience sharing on improving the abilities of civil servants. The two sides discussed cooperation in such fields as training of senior civil servants and exchange between relevant think tanks.
14. The two sides reviewed the results of police and law enforcement cooperation between the two countries in recent years. The two sides agreed to further deepen exchanges and cooperation in such fields as counter-terrorism, combating transnational organized crimes, cyber security and law enforcement capacity building.
15. The two sides fully recognize the successes of the China-Hungary Belt and Road working group and will continue to support the mechanism in playing an active and constructive role in sorting and coordinating the work in different areas under Belt and Road cooperation between China and Hungary.
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