Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor welcomed China to invest in infrastructure in Central Europe (CE) on Thursday, in a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor delivers a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing on Thursday. [Zhang Ming'ai/China.org.cn]

Orban expressed his worries over the European debt crisis and the future of the European Union (EU) economies.

"The 28 EU member states have a combined debt of 11,000 billion Euros," he said. "They are creating 1,200 million Euros worth of new debt every day."

He believes that the EU will not be able to finance any infrastructure projects in Central Europe over the next seven years, which provides a good opportunity for China.

Viktor said that Central Europe needs to modernize its infrastructure. There are not enough highways and railways between Budapest and Warsaw and there is no north-south link, he said.

When asked to comment on the Serbia-Hungary high-speed railway, Orban said Serbia is a country with a difficult economic situation and Hungary and the EU are not able to finance a project of such proportion.

He expressed his thanks for China's financing of the project and said that it will benefit Hungary, Serbia, China and the European Union.

"This trilateral project is a symbol of the Chinese presence in Central Europe," the prime minister said.

Orban also said that he and Chinese Premier Li also witnessed the signing of 18 agreements in science, tourism, medicine, finance and personnel exchanges.

"The deals will greatly boost the practical cooperation between China and Hungary," said Kong Tianping, head of the Department of Central and Eastern European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Hungary has been very active in promoting the cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries," he added.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary and the 10th anniversary of their friendly and cooperative partnership.

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