Chinese president Xi Jinping shakes hands with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in Budapest. Photograph: Vivien Cher Benko/AFP via Getty Imagesin the grounds of Budapest’s spectacular Buda Castle on Thursday on the third and final stop on Mr Xi’s first European tour in five years.has become an important trade and investment partner for China, in contrast with some other EU nations that are considering becoming less dependent on the world’s second-largest economy.
Mr Xi is scheduled to meet Mr Orban later in the day, with the war in Ukraine and infrastructure projects high on the agenda. Mr Orban started bringing his country closer to Beijing after he came to power in 2010. Warm political relations turned into investments about a decade later when battery and electric vehicle makers started to bring production to Hungary.
The next step is producing Chinese electric vehicles in Hungary as the EU's protectionist plans are threatening their expansion, he added.EU reaches deal on using profits from Russia’s frozen assets for UkraineMOST READ