On the afternoon of November 25, 2013 (local time), Premier Li Keqiang met separately with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic in Bucharest and they jointly met with the media after the meetings.
During the meeting with Viktor Orbán, Li Keqiang said that China and Hungary enjoy profound traditional friendship and broad prospects for bilateral relations. The cooperation between the two countries and other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in railway construction has seen new progress and has become a new milestone. China is ready to work with Hungary to implement cooperation projects and further promote cooperation in agriculture, clean energy, finance, culture and other areas. China has advanced nuclear power technologies and strong construction capabilities. China is willing to actively explore cooperation with Hungary and constantly enrich the connotations of bilateral relations for the benefit of the two peoples.
Viktor Orbán said that the two countries have made positive progress in the agreed cooperation projects and have further expanded the areas of cooperation in recent years, which has effectively promoted the economic and social development of Hungary. Hungary supports China to further develop relations with CEE countries. Hungary is willing to strengthen cooperation with China within bilateral, CEE-China and Europe-China frameworks and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Hungary.
During his meeting with Ivica Dacic, Premier Li said that China and Serbia are all-weather friends and good partners. At present, the bilateral ties have entered a new stage of development. China is willing to work with the Serbian side and the relevant parties to implement cooperative projects such as railway projects and drive the railway construction in the CEE region. China encourages domestic enterprises to invest in agriculture and power industry in Serbia to promote the fast, balanced development of bilateral trade and boost the all-round development of bilateral cooperation in various fields.
Ivica Dacic said that Serbia is China's reliable friend and partner and the two countries enjoy a profound friendship. The Serbian side places the diplomatic relations with China as a priority direction and appreciates the long-term valuable support of China. Serbia is willing to increase high-level exchanges with China and expand mutually beneficial cooperation in energy, railway construction, infrastructure construction, agriculture, communications and other fields. Serbia supports and will actively participate in the cooperation between CEE countries and China.
After the meetings, Li Keqiang, Viktor Orbán and Ivica Dacic jointly met with the media. The three prime ministers announced the co-construction of the Hungary-Serbia Railway connecting Belgrade and Budapest and the establishment of a joint working group responsible for the implementation. Li said that the Hungary-Serbia Railway is a landmark project for China-CEE cooperation. Since the reform and opening up, the railway construction has developed rapidly in China. China now has mature equipment, technology and construction experience and obvious performance-to-price advantages. CEE countries have market demands. The two sides thus can achieve mutual benefit and win-win results through such cooperation. The Chinese equipment going into the international market and especially emerging markets, can help these countries upgrade the infrastructure on one hand and help China digest the excessive production capacity and improve the quality and service level of Chinese equipment on the other hand. Such cooperation will benefit the bilateral and multilateral relations. It is not only conducive to EU cooperation, but also conducive to the world. China is willing to work together with the countries concerned to turn railway cooperation into a new highlight for China-CEE cooperation and a new bond of friendship between China and Central and Eastern Europe and between China and Europe.
Viktor Orbán and Ivica Dacic said that the trilateral cooperation on the construction the Hungary-Serbia Railway is of important historical significance. It will make all parties benefit and will promote the economic development of both countries and the region. The Hungary-Serbia Railway using the Chinese railway technology reflects the principle of mutual benefit and win-win results. They expressed the belief that the project will be successfully implemented and will play an exemplary role. The two countries will work together with China to implement the project and strive to achieve tangible results at an early date and upgrade CEE-China cooperation to higher levels.