Visiting Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan met with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany on Wednesday, with both sides voicing the will to promote bilateral economic ties.

 

Zeng, who was in Budapest on an official visit, said that strengthening economic cooperation between China and Hungary further would fundamentally benefit both the countries and their peoples.

 

He hoped that both sides invent methods and broaden channels of economic cooperation.

 

A three-point proposal was made by the vice premier for closer economic ties.

 

The first one, Zeng said, was to develop big cooperation projects; the second one was to strengthen cooperation in high-tech industries, finance and tourism; the third one was to expand mutual investment, and raise the standards of Sino-Hungarian trade and economic cooperation.

 

Zeng expressed his appreciation for Hungary's consistent one-China policy, and its support on China's position on the Taiwan issue and Tibet.

 

For his part, Gyurcsany agreed to the proposal, saying his country was willing to work for closer cooperation in various fields.

 

The prime minister welcomed Chinese entrepreneurs to invest and set up branches in Hungary, and carry out all-around cooperation.

 

On Thursday, Zeng met with Hungarian industrial and commercial leaders, and welcomed them to expand investment and trade in China.

 

He hoped that both sides would work to establish a mechanism of regular dialogue, optimize trade structure, broaden the field of investment, and set bilateral cooperation on agriculture, infrastructure, energy saving, environmental protection, high-tech industry and finance as priorities.

 

Hungary is the first leg of Zeng's four-nation tour, which will also take him to Belgium, Ireland and Norway.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2006)