Hungary is tightening its relations with China, after signing a strategic cooperation agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
“With its total assets of some four thousand billion US dollars, ICBC, which was founded in 1984, is the world’s largest bank,” recalled the Minister of Finance Mihály Varga. “It has 426 branch offices in 47 countries and regions and the bank is present in 15 European countries, in addition to which it is also considering opening a regional office in Budapest.”
The bilateral memorandum of understanding, whose goal is the development of comprehensive and long-term strategic cooperation between Hungary and China, is an important milestone, as China is prepared to actively cooperate with Hungary with relation to the issuing of renminbi bonds, supporting cross-border renminbi business relations and payment transactions, and financing of Hungarian infrastructure projects.
“In addition, the ICBC will also be able to develop relations with the Hungarian banks involved concerning artificial intelligence, cloud-based solutions and other digital development projects”, the Minister underlined.
In order to strengthen the One Belt, One Road initiative, the ICBC is considering to open an office in Budapest, reinforcing Hungary’s role as a regional financial centre.
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