China and Hungary announced on Thursday that they would elevate their bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.
The decision was announced during talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Noting that the China-Hungary relationship is now the best it has ever been, Xi said the two countries set a good example for fostering a new type of international relations with their comprehensive strategic partnership maintaining high-level development, characterized by deepening political trust, and fruitful cooperation across diverse fields.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary, ushering in a new and important opportunity for the development of bilateral relations, Xi said.
The two sides should continue to be good friends with mutual trust and support, and good partners in win-win cooperation, Xi said, calling on the two countries to take the establishment of the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era as an opportunity to inject new and strong impetus into bilateral cooperation and create a better future for the two peoples.
Xi said China appreciates Hungary for pursuing a long-term friendly policy towards China and unequivocally supporting China on questions related to Taiwan, Hong Kong and human rights.
Xi said China firmly supports Hungary in following a development path suited to its national realities, and stands ready to work together with Hungary to cement political mutual trust, enhance exchanges between governments, legislative bodies and political parties, and firmly support each other on issues of core interests and major concerns.
Chinese modernization will surely bring more opportunities to Hungary and other countries in the world, and Hungary is welcomed to be China's companion on its path to Chinese modernization, said Xi.
China is willing to jointly forge greater synergy in development strategies with Hungary, give play to the roles of mechanisms including the China-Hungary intergovernmental Belt and Road cooperation committee, advance cooperation in infrastructure, green energy and other fields in an orderly manner, and complete construction of the Hungary-Serbia railway as planned, while expanding cooperation in emerging areas such as clean energy and artificial intelligence, he said.
Xi said the two sides should provide more support for the teaching of their languages and strengthen people-to-people exchanges.
Xi said China stands ready to intensify multilateral communication and coordination with Hungary, advocate an equal and orderly multi-polar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, uphold international fairness and justice, make global governance fairer and more equitable, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Hailing Europe as an important pole in a multipolar world, Xi said Europe is an important partner on China's path toward Chinese modernization. It is hoped that Hungary will take the opportunity of taking on the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of this year to promote the steady and sound development of China-EU relations, said Xi.
The cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) has a strong internal driving force, Xi said, expressing hope that Hungary will continue to play an important role in promoting China-CEEC cooperation to better benefit people in the region.
For his part, Orban said Xi's visit is of great historical significance for Hungary and for Hungary-China ties, noting that the announcement of the elevation of bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era has identified the direction for the future direction of the Hungary-China relationship. He expressed confidence in the prospects for bilateral ties.
Orban said Hungary will never forget China's valuable support in times of difficulties, and will continue to be China's ironclad friend. He said his country supports China in safeguarding its core interests and legitimate rights, noting Hungary has adhered and will adhere to the one-China principle.
Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries has achieved great success and created jobs and improved people's wellbeing in Hungary, Orban said, noting his country hopes for progress in cooperation on large-scale infrastructure projects including the Hungary-Serbia railway within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and enhanced cooperation in economy, trade, new energy and other fields.
Orban said his country does not identify with the rhetoric of so-called "overcapacity" or "de-risking", and is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and coordination with China to jointly safeguard world peace and stability.
As the rotating EU presidency in the second half of this year, Hungary stands ready to make positive efforts in promoting sound development of EU-China relations and CEEC-China cooperation, said Orban.
The two leaders also had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis. Xi stressed that China has been committed to promoting peace talks, and is willing to continue to work with parties concerned to make positive efforts so that peace will prevail at an early date.
After the talks, Xi and Orban jointly witnessed the exchange of multiple cooperation documents on Belt and Road cooperation, economy and trade, investment, science and technology, culture, agriculture and other areas.
They also jointly met the press.
The two sides issued a joint statement on building an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, and a list of outcome documents.