| President Hu Jintao Holds Talks with Hungarian President Madl Ferenc |
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| 2004-11-28 13:50 |
On the afternoon of June 10, 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with his Hungarian counterpart Madl Ferenc and signed the Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Hungary. The two sides announced to establish China-Hungary friendly and cooperative partnership, which as they believed will lay a new solid foundation for the two countries to further expand friendly and reciprocal cooperation.
The talks between the two heads of state were held in the Presidential Palace on Castle Hill. Against the luxuriant verdure of the city, the winding Danube River and the lofty Castle Hill look extremely beautiful. When four dressed-up cavalries led the fleet of the Chinese President to the square in front of the Presidential Palace, President Madl and his wife who were already waiting there came up to express their warm welcome to President Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing. Afterwards the two heads of state jointly reviewed the Guards of Honor.
During the talks, Madl described President Hu's state visit to Hungary as an important event in bilateral relations. China has witnessed tremendous development since the adoption of reform and opening up policy. As Hungary's most important partner in Asia, China is playing an increasingly prominent role in the international arena. Despite different national conditions of the two countries, both sides are committed to establish a new type of cooperative relations between China and Hungary.
Hu said to Madl that Hungary was one of the earliest countries to establish diplomatic ties with China. For the past half century or more, China-Hungary relations have been developing steadily and new achievements have been witnessed continuously. We view Hungary as a genuine friend and an important partner for cooperation and would like to take the opportunity of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries to start a new chapter of bilateral relations and to develop friendly and cooperative partnership together with Hungary. To this end, President Hu made four proposals: First, to continue high level exchanges and enhance mutual political trust. Second, to further tap the potentials and improve the level of bilateral economic cooperation and trade through a variety of channels such as to promote mutual investments. Hungarian businesses are welcomed to actively participate in China's initiatives to develop the western region and to rejuvenate the old industrial bases in the northeastern part of the country as well as in venue construction for the 2008 Olympic Games and 2010 World Expo. The Chinese government supports competent Chinese businesses to invest and set up plants in Hungary to participate in local infrastructure construction. Third, to expand cultural and educational exchanges. Fourth, to deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in such fields as environmental protection, transportation, science and technology. Hu's proposals were hailed by President Madl and the two heads of state both expressed their willingness in further pushing forward the development of bilateral relations in the new century.
When talking about international issues, Madl expressed his appreciations for the active role China had played in safeguarding world peace and stability as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Hu briefed him China's points of view on the current international situation, pointing out that China and Hungary hold identical or similar views on a number of important international issues and the two sides might enhance coordination and cooperation in the UN as well as in other international organizations.
Following the talks the two heads of state signed the Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Hungary. This is an important document which guides the future development of China-Hungary relations. The statement noted that it is the common inspiration of the Chinese and the Hungarian peoples to continuously enrich and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, which is also in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and conducive to regional and international peace and security. The two sides will further enhance cooperation in economy and trade, culture, education, science and technology as well as personnel exchanges. As for the Taiwan question, the Hungarian side firmly reiterated its adherence to the "one-China" policy and its commitment not to conduct any official engagement with Taiwan. Both sides condemned terrorism in any form, indicating they would enhance cooperation between judicial, public security, customs and financial regulatory bodies.
The two heads of state attended the signing ceremony of six bilateral cooperative documents including China-Hungary Economic Cooperation Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Protection, Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Bilingual School of Chinese and Hungarian, Cooperative Agreement between China Hainan Airlines and Hungarian Airlines.
The two heads of state also co-hosted a press conference to share with the media their comments on bilateral relations and issues related to their talks.
President Hu laid a wreath at the monument for unknown heroes on the afternoon.
That evening, President Madl held a banquet to welcome President Hu for his visit to Hungary. Hu's wife Liu Yongqing, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and other Chinese delegates attended the banquet with a number of ministers of the Hungarian government and representatives from the industry and business community in Hungary.
(Information from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC ) |
Bilateral Visits