President Hu Jintao and his Hungarian counterpart Madl Ferenc signed a joint statement in Budapest on Thursday, pledging to build a friendly and cooperative partnership between their countries.

Hu and Ferenc agreed that the signing of the statement will lay a new solid foundation for further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation.

"This is an important document that will guide the development of future Sino-Hungarian relations," said a press release from the Chinese delegation.

Hungary reiterated its adherence to the one-China policy and said it will not have any official contacts with the Taiwanese authorities.

Hu arrived in Budapest Thursday for a two-day state visit to Hungary, which became a member of the European Union in May.

Hungary is the second leg of Hu's four-nation tour following Poland. He will also visit Romania and Uzbekistan before attending a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, scheduled to begin on June 17.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2004)