BEIJING, May 10, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in
Budapest on Wednesday for a state
visit to Hungary. In an exclusive
interview with the Global Times, Levente
Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center at John von Neumann
University, said that this visit is an important opportunity as the
two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing
diplomatic relations. He noted that Hungary is expected to play a positive role in
China-EU relations during its
upcoming EU presidency.
Horvath highlighted that in the past 14 years, since the
Hungarian government announced the "Open to the East" policy, trade
and economic cooperation between Hungary and China have developed at an accelerating pace.
He noted that the two countries now enjoy strong and positive
economic cooperation.
The Hungarian scholar pointed out that in the emerging
multipolar world order, not only Western countries, but also
nations like China, Russia, and India will be significant players.
Hungary aims to diversify its
international relations and seeks greater economic cooperation. He
summarized Hungary-China relations with five points, particularly
in terms of connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI).
"First of all, there is political connectivity," Horvath said,
noting that political cooperation between the two countries has
grown stronger in recent years, marked by frequent high-level
interactions. "Almost every month, there is a ministerial-level
meeting between the two sides," he added.
The second aspect is trade. In the past 14 years, especially
since the "Open to the East" policy began, Hungary's exports to China have doubled, while imports from
China have tripled, Horvath
stated.
Additionally, Hungary is an
important partner in the BRI, and the Budapest-Belgrade railway has become a major
infrastructure project. "We hope that during these meetings, there
will be other announcements about cooperation in infrastructure,
like railway stations or railroads," Horvath said.
Financial and people-to-people connectivity have also
strengthened. "We already have five Confucius Institutes in
Hungary, and this year,
China plans to open the China
Cultural Center," he said.
"If we look at EU members, we can see very strong economic
cooperation," he said, citing examples like German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz's visit to China with numerous CEOs, and French President
Emmanuel Macron welcoming Xi in
France in recent days.
Leaders from other countries, including Spain, the
Netherlands, and Belgium,
also visited China to discuss
economic cooperation, and "the president and prime minister of
Italy are planning to go to
China," he said.
"We can see that despite their criticism of China, EU members are seeking stronger
economic cooperation with the country," Horvath said, emphasizing
that Hungary has a different way
of thinking by not interfering with the internal policies of
China and other countries.
As Hungary is set to take over
the rotating EU presidency in July, Horvath believes the country
could change the bloc's mindset about "de-risking" with
China. History shows that
"de-risking" or "decoupling" is never the best approach for the
future.
"Cooperation is the best way, according to history," he said,
emphasizing the importance of learning from the past.
"About 40 or 50 years ago, when Japan became the second-largest economic and
technological power, some Western countries were afraid of
Japan. Now some are afraid of
China," Horvath said. "Eventually, they agreed on
cooperation, and now we see that Japanese and South Korean cars
don't destroy our markets. So, we don't need to be afraid of
Chinese cars."
Top executives at BMW and Volkswagen warned the EU against imposing import duties on
Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), saying it could jeopardize the
bloc's Green Deal plan and harm automakers importing cars from
China, Reuters reported on
Wednesday.
The Hungarian scholar argued that EVs represent the future and
that Chinese automakers have strong cooperation with German car
companies.
"As I travel frequently to China, almost every month, I see many
high-quality Chinese EVs with advanced technology and innovations,"
he said, noting that investments by Chinese companies in
Hungary will lead to healthy
competition.
Horvath also emphasized that China and Europe share a common interest in cooperation.
The Hungarian government has a similar perspective on international
relations, akin to China's.
"We also share the Eurasia connectivity concept, so Europe and Asia should connect. We also promote mutual
respect and peace, and oppose war,"
he said.
"We hope Russia and
Ukraine can sit down and discuss
their issues peacefully. China
also seeks mutual respect, peace, and opposes war," Horvath
said.
During its EU presidency, Hungary hopes to influence the bloc's thinking
about China, as the country aims
to ensure that the EU remains an essential pillar of the multipolar
world, the Hungarian scholar concluded.
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SOURCE Global Times