Xi Jinping is given a warm welcome in Hungary: Ukraine, investments and a major infrastructure project are expected to be discussed

Chinese President Xi Jinping received a warm welcome in Hungary on Thursday during his third and final stop on his first European tour in five years. [Hungarian soldiers on horseback joined President Tamas Szuik during the meeting with the Chinese leader at the magnificent Buda Fortress, UNN reports citing Reuters.

Details

"Hungary, under the leadership of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has become an important trade and investment partner of China, unlike other EU countries that are considering reducing their dependence on the world's second-largest economy," the newspaper writes.

Xi Jinping arrived in Budapest late Wednesday night after visiting France and Serbia.

Xi Jinping arrives on a visit to Hungary09.05.24, 03:51 • 27426 views

In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pressed him to ensure more balanced trade with Europe and to use his influence with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

Later in the day, Xi Jinping will meet with Orban, where the war in Ukraine and infrastructure projects will be on the agenda. A press statement is expected at 15:30 GMT (18:30 Kyiv time).

After his meeting with Szujok, Xi Jinping said that the friendship between China and Hungary is not directed against or dictated by any third party, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi Jinping also expressed hope that Hungary would use its EU presidency in the second half of the year as an opportunity to promote the healthy development of China-EU relations.

Hungary and China, which are celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, are expected to sign 16 to 18 new cooperation agreements, one of which could be a large-scale infrastructure project within China's huge Belt and Road project, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

The media reported that Xi Jinping and Orban may travel to the southern city of Pecs to announce that the Chinese company Great Wall Motor is going to build a plant there and produce electric cars.

In a statement on Monday, Szijjarto denied that the two leaders would travel to Pecs, but said that "talks are ongoing with major Chinese companies about further investments." 

Addendum

Orban began to bring his country closer to Beijing after he came to power in 2010. Warm political relations turned into investments about a decade later, when battery and electric vehicle manufacturers began to move production to Hungary, the publication points out.

One of the largest investors, CATL, is building a €7.3 billion ($7.86 billion) battery plant in Debrecen, and Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD announced late last year that it is building its first European plant in southern Szeged.

China initially moved battery production to Europe to save on transportation costs because they were so heavy that it made sense to move production close to car plants from companies like Daimler and BMW, said Tamas Matura, an associate professor at Corvinus University.

The next step will be the production of Chinese electric vehicles in Hungary, as the EU's protectionist plans jeopardize their expansion, he added.

"This could affect them much less if they had already settled down and were producing within the EU," he said.