Hungary and China sign strategic cooperation agreement during visit by Chinese President Xi

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00:00Let's move on to other world news. A fervent admirer of the Chinese president, Hungary's

00:05Viktor Orban signed a number of agreements with Xi Jinping during the final day of a

00:09European tour aimed at solidifying China's economic footprint in the region. Following

00:15talks in Budapest, the Hungarian Prime Minister praised what he described as the continuous,

00:20uninterrupted friendship between the two countries since his tenure began back in 2010. He promised

00:27that Hungary would continue to host further Chinese investments. Let's hear some of what

00:31the two leaders had to say.

00:35China attaches great importance to the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and believes

00:41that Europe is an important pole in the multipolar world, an important partner in promoting Chinese-style

00:46modernisation. China supports Hungary in playing a greater role within the EU and promoting

00:52China-EU relations to achieve new and greater development.

00:59Efforts should be made toward peace instead. Our voice, Hungary's voice in Europe, is the

01:04only voice. Europe today is on the side of war. The only exception is Hungary, which

01:09calls for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks, and supports all international efforts

01:14toward peace, including the Chinese Peace Initiative, presented by President Xi Jinping.

01:22For some analysis, let's cross live now to our correspondent in Beijing. Yena Li is standing

01:27by for us. Great to have you with us this morning, Yena. So firstly, how exactly has

01:32this five-day European tour been viewed in China?

01:37Really quite positively, Sharon, and in a patriotic light as well on social media, there

01:44are these viral videos, for example, of Serbian people complimenting China's rapid development

01:50or people waving the Chinese flag on the streets of Belgrade. French Prime Minister Gabriel

01:57Attal's efforts at speaking a few words in Mandarin to President Xi Jinping as well was

02:03applauded by netizens, and we also have one trending topic on Weibo, which is how Hungary

02:08and China have similar food and culture. Of course, social media is controlled here, and

02:13the trends we see can sometimes be genuine and they can also be artificial. Above all,

02:18the things that go viral here are things that are allowed to go viral here. The takeaway

02:23is that these European countries rolled out the red carpet for President Xi Jinping. He

02:28is a respected leader abroad, and thus the Chinese people are being respected abroad,

02:32at least that's what you'll see if you've been looking at some of the social media here

02:36in China this week.

02:38So not surprisingly then, perhaps viewed positively in China, what about Xi's international goals

02:44and has the trip from that point of view been a success for him?

02:51Well the overarching goal is to promote China's economy and its market whilst defending Beijing's

02:56foreign policy of course. The Belgrade visit was timed to be an anti-NATO, anti-US snub

03:03whilst also serving as an opportunity to upgrade bilateral ties, and indeed 29 new deals were

03:08signed. Hungary too was rather a logical choice for Beijing as a supporter of Beijing's Belt

03:13and Road initiative and a host of several Chinese EV battery plants. Budapest is an

03:20important friend for Beijing. France has been a little bit more complex but was probably

03:25seen as a necessity for Beijing as they see Paris as a crucial partner in the EU and a

03:32crucial one as a P5 nation on the international scale as well. Leaders Macron and Xi agreed

03:38on things that they mostly already agree on but they did it publicly and President Xi was

03:42treated to a personal, supposedly meaningful moment or two with President Macron. But before

03:49I leave you let me bring up some of the official wording from Beijing for this European trip.

03:55China and France have a precious history, unique values and an important mission. China and Serbia

04:00an ironclad friendship that has grown stronger and finally China and Hungary have entered

04:06their best period in history.

04:08Thank you so much for that update and analysis. That is Yenna Li joining us live there from Beijing.

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