BUDAPEST: Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Hungary today seeking a “new journey” with China’s closest EU ally amid divisions with the West over the Ukraine conflict and global trade.
Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok has warmly received President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan with military honours in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Budapest, Hungary.
President XI arrived in Budapest on Wednesday night following wrapping up his trip to Serbia, and later attended a state dinner with Viktor Orban.
Local media reported that President Xi’s three-day trip to Hungary marks 75 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Since Hungary started to promote itself as a global center for EV manufacturing in 2022, several new Chinese businesses have sprung up across the country.
The Hungarian government said that the two nations are likely to ink at least 16 different agreements promoting their close cooperation in rail and road infrastructure, automotive industry and the nuclear energy.
President Xi will meet Orban for talks later today before delivering a statement to the media. Xi is due to leave Budapest on Friday afternoon.
Earlier this week, Xi kicked off his tour in France, a visit that was cordial but also highlighted tensions between the EU and China over the war in Ukraine and international trade.
According to AFP, French President Emmanuel Macron has pressed a message to China not to support Moscow’s war against Kyiv and to accept fairer trade.
In Hungary, a country with close relations to both China and Russia, President Xi will be able to “avoid tough conversations and questions.
