Cooperation, not competition, at root of ties with EU: chamber head

China and the EU are each other’s comprehensive strategic partners, with a wide range of common interests, with more cooperation than competition and more agreement than disagreement, Erno Peto, president of the HungarianChinese Chamber of Economy, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview, amid the visit of China’s top leader to Hungary this week.

The significance of the visit is very promising for Hungarian business people, Peto said, describing this as the result of the close cooperation the two countries have fostered. He expressed confidence that “very good political relations that have existed at a high level for a long time will generate faster development in economic relations than ever before.”

Talking about the high complementarity between China and Hungary, Peto said that China was and still is Hungary’s ninth most important trading partner and the first most important trading partner outside Europe.

In addition to infrastructure projects and major battery industry investments, more cooperation in the fields of finance, alternative energy, communications technology and logistics can be developed substantially, according to the Hungarian industry representative.

Hungary can be a special platform for Chinese enterprises to directly enter the European market with their own branded products, Peto added.

In recent years, relations between China and Hungary have been highlighted, with deepened mutual trust and fruitful outcomes in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Peto also noted the important role that China, the world’s second-largest economy, plays in leading the fight against the adverse effects of climate change, noting the potential of the joint development of the new-energy sector.