Hungarian ambassador reads into crisis

By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-05-13 18:51

Beijing -- The unfolding global financial crisis is offering not only challenges but also opportunities to the global community, a senior Hungarian diplomat said Friday.

"The crisis, in Chinese, is part danger, part opportunities," Sándor Kusai, the Hungarian Ambassador to China, said during a visit to China Daily's website Friday morning.

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The mandarin-proficient diplomat delved into the nature of the crisis, urging bilateral efforts to seek and grasp hidden opportunities amid the meltdown.

As the rare bright spot in the global meltdown with major economies mired in recession, China's role in international recovery is "exceptionally important", the ambassador noted.

Hungary's newly-sworn in PM Gordon Bajnai warned of a further 6% recession this year in his country, which is among the most affected in the European Union by the ongoing financial crisis. The economist-turned PM put China as one of the five major priorities of his economic agenda.

Hungary houses so fare the largest population of Chinese businessmen in the EU. Thanks to their "flexibility and cleverness", the global financial plague failed to dent bilateral trade between China and Hungary, which outperformed with a 20% growth in 2008, the diplomat said.

"All the clever people shall use the opportunities [of] this crisis to enhance cooperation, and via enhanced cooperation, [they will] put forward economic growth and cooperation," Kusai noted.

The diplomat, who first came to China 25 years ago, expressed his confidence in bilateral cooperation, which is backed by 60 years of an ever-growing friendship, when the two countries established diplomatic relations just five days after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

"The biggest result that we have built up within the 60 years is a very solid foundation for moving forward with the mutual friendship," he said.