STORY: China, Hungary to strengthen high-quality cooperation under BRI for next decade, says ambassador
SHOOTING TIME: May 1, 2024
DATELINE: May 6, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:58
LOCATION: Budapest
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Budapest
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): GONG TAO, Chinese Ambassador to Hungary
3. various of Budapest
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): GONG TAO, Chinese Ambassador to Hungary

STORYLINE:

For the second golden decade of cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China and Hungary will continue to enhance high-quality cooperation and synergy between the BRI and Hungary's Opening to the East policy, Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Gong Tao has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Gong noted that bilateral cooperation between the two countries has shown strong vigor and vitality.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): GONG TAO, Chinese Ambassador to Hungary
"Hungary has been China's largest investment destination in Central and Eastern Europe for many years. China once again became Hungary's largest source of foreign investment and largest trading partner outside the European Union in 2023.
Hungary is the first European country that has signed the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation agreement with China.
The past decade of jointly building the BRI can be seen as a golden period for the rapid development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Hungary has been a distribution center for China-Europe freight trains and a crucial link in the logistics transport corridor between China and Europe.
New energy cooperation projects such as the manufacturing facility of Chinese battery producer CATL in Debrecen and that of electric vehicle maker BYD in Szeged have revitalized bilateral relations and brought tangible benefits to both peoples.
During the next phase of ties, the two countries will continue to promote high-quality BRI cooperation in key areas such as the digital economy, the green economy, information technology and cross-border e-commerce. We believe that with the joint efforts from both sides, China-Hungary BRI cooperation will achieve high-quality development and usher in another golden decade."

At the invitation of President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Hungary.
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): GONG TAO, Chinese Ambassador to Hungary
"This visit will surely become a milestone of great historical significance in China-Hungary relations, leading bilateral ties to new heights, opening up new prospects for practical cooperation and writing a new chapter in traditional friendship.
Both sides (China and Hungary) are firmly committed to strengthening connectivity, promoting equal and orderly multi-polarization and inclusive, win-win economic globalization, and unequivocally opposing decoupling, supply chain severance and confrontation. Looking to the future, the two sides have unlimited opportunities and broad prospects for cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, finance, innovation and people-to-people exchanges. China looks forward to working with Hungary to advance cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe while developing stable ties with the EU."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Budapest.
(XHTV)