An economic and trade cooperation conference was held between Hunan Xiangjiang New Area and Somogy, Hungary at the Zoomlion Intelligent Industrial Town, Changsha on November 25. A visiting government delegation from Somogy, Hungary gathered together with relevant leaders from Xiangjiang New Area and representatives from 22 outstanding enterprises to explore new opportunities for cooperation and to inject new impetus into the industrial development of the two places.

Known as the "Heart of Europe", Hungary, an important node country along the "Belt and Road", has consistently served as a gateway for Chinese enterprises to enter Europe. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary. The two heads of state have worked together to elevate bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era and facilitate the two countries to embark on a "golden voyage" in bilateral relations. It is against this background that the economic and trade cooperation conference was held to further deepen economic and trade cooperation between Xiangjiang New Area and Somogy and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

As the 12th state-level new area, Xiangjiang New Area has been at the forefront of high-quality development since its establishment nine years ago. In 2023, the area's economic aggregate reached 451.876 billion CNY. The area boasts five national industrial parks and zones and three provincial ones, and three 100-billion-yuan industries—construction machinery, electronic information, and new materials. Additionally, the area is home to more than 450,000 market entities, and the total number of domestic and foreign listed enterprises in the area reaches 57. A total of 22 institutions of higher learning, including Central South University and Hunan University are situated here, contributing to a talent reserve of nearly 1 million people.

Hunan and Somogy established friendly relations in 2016. Since then, Xiangjiang New Area and Somogy have achieved good results in cooperation in high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, new energy, and other fields. At the economic and trade cooperation conference, the two sides had in-depth exchanges on further deepening cooperation.

"What are the preferential policies of Somogy for foreign-invested (Chinese-invested) enterprises to establish local permanent institutions for sales service or manufacturing assembly? Which industries will be supported?" "What is Hungary's health care policy for diabetics?" ... Zoomlion, Sinocare, HNAC Technology, and other enterprises have raised questions on investment environment, preferential policies, industrial development, and other aspects, and received a positive response from the representatives of the Somogy government delegation.

"As a strategic platform for the country's major development, reform, and opening-up initiatives, the new area is also an important carrier for the central region to integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative, expanding opening-up and cooperation," said Shuai Jun, deputy director of the Hunan Xiangjiang New Area (Changsha High-tech Zone) Management Committee. He added that the new area has many similarities with Hungary, especially in terms of industrial development, business environment, history and cultural innovation. Therefore, there is a huge space for bilateral cooperation. He sincerely hopes to collaborate with the governments of Hungary and Somogy, as well as local friends from all walks of life, to strengthen cooperation in various fields such as the Belt and Road Initiative, economic and trade investment, emerging industries, and culture and art, in order to jointly create a better future.