Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Hungary

Chinese Wang Yi, director of the CCP's central foreign affairs office, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, this Sunday, February 19, 2023 in Budpest.

AP - Benko Vivien Cher

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The highest official of diplomacy within the Chinese Communist Party continues his trip to Europe.

After Paris, where he was received by Emmanuel Macron, then Munich, Wang Yi arrived this Sunday February 19 in Budapest.

Economic relations between the two countries will be at the heart of the talks.

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With our correspondent in Budapest,

Hungary was the first Central European country to sign a partnership on the "New Silk Roads", this Chinese mega-project intended to open new trade routes with the African and European continents.

Example of this partnership: a Sino-Hungarian consortium is currently building a new high-speed train line between Budapest and Belgrade, a project financed thanks to a loan granted by China – China lends Hungary 85% of the 2.4 billion euros allocated to the project.

For Viktor Orbán, trading with China means accessing new sources of funding, while part of the European funds intended for Hungary is still frozen by Brussels.

It also means dealing with a partner that is much less attentive to the rule of law than the European Union.

But relations between the two countries are not necessarily in good shape.

After inviting Fudan University in Shanghai to open its first European campus in Budapest, the Hungarian Prime Minister abandoned the project.

Because Hungary would have had to borrow heavily from China to finance this campus.

An idea that went badly with right-wing voters.

Mr. Orbán therefore threw in the towel, for fear of losing votes in the elections.

Another problem: in eastern Hungary, the Chinese manufacturer Amperex (CATL) must invest 7.5 billion euros in the construction of an electric battery factory.

Batteries that will be supplied to the three major German car manufacturers present in Hungary: BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

But the project comes up against a revolt of the inhabitants of the region.

In particular, they fear that the waste discharged by the factory will pollute groundwater.

► Also to listen to Hungary: the arrival of a Chinese campus in Budapest makes the opposition jump

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• Hungary

• Victor Orban

• China