Sino-Hungarian Relations Under The Belt And Road Initiative

Sino-Hungarian relations date back to ancient times,however,official relations were established after the establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949.The two countries formed a friendly relation,its basis was the similar ideology.Between China and Hungary,the relationship remained steady through the years.From the 2000s the relation came to the Golden Age.From that period of time,the two countries mutually started to get closer to each other.After Hungary’s connection to the European Union in 2004,China and Hungary signed an agreement on "Friendly Partnership of Cooperation".China started to acknowledge the importance of that small Central-Eastern-European country,it could be its gateway to the European Union.After the 2008-2009 economic crisis the Hungarian government and economy suffered great losses,and wanted to find new solutions to its problems.It announced its "Eastern Opening" policy,which was intended to reduce the dependence of the Hungarian economy on the European Union,and to deepen its relation with Eastern countries,especially China.With its new policy the Hungarian government joined the China-Central-Eastern European Countries Forum in 2012.Few years later,China announced its largest foreign policy initiative,the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road,in short form the Belt and Road Initiative.Hungary was the first European country joining and signing a Memorandum of Understanding.By joining the Belt and Road Initiative the relations between the two countries became even more strong.In 2017 Xi Jinping and Orban Viktor signed an agreement on elevating the relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership level.Since then the economic side of the cooperation also took off.In 2020 China was Hungary’ s second importer,and the first country outside of the European Union.The first Belt and Road project was also signed,which is the modernization of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line.This railway line could be the first Belt and Road project built in Europe.Besides the political and economic side,the cultural and scholarly life is thriving as well under the Belt and Road cooperation.More and more cultural programs are held both in China and in Hungary,and more and more students starting to learn the language of the other country.