Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday departed from Budapest, completing his first European tour since 2019, which also took him to France and Serbia.
His official plane took off shortly after 6pm from the capital’s airport, images broadcast by state television channel M1 showed.
Xi started his tour on Sunday last week in Paris, where he was welcomed with pomp, but also had to deal with uncomfortable questions about the Ukraine war and global trade rules.
Photo: Hungarian Prime Minister’s Press Office via EPA-EFE
Later in Belgrade and Budapest, lavish spectacles and praise awaited him.
TIBETAN FLAGS
During his three-day visit to Hungary, the Central European country’s capital was decked out with Chinese flags and placed under tight security.
The few Tibetan flags held up by demonstrators were hidden from Xi’s sight and most local and international media were not allowed to attend events on his itinerary. Even his schedule was not officially published.
Xi held multiple meetings with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a nationalist who is frequently at loggerheads with Brussels.
On Thursday, he called on his closest EU partner to “play a bigger role” in fostering relations between Beijing and the bloc.
NEW DEALS
Amid disagreements with the West, both leaders stressed their shared views and demonstrated their close ties, announcing that 18 bilateral agreements had been signed.
Several new joint projects were announced, including the construction of rail infrastructure, the establishment of a new fast border crossing and possible oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia, and cooperation in the nuclear sector.
On Friday, Xi and Orban visited Hungary’s largest building, the 143m-high headquarters of local oil company MOL Group.
“Hungarian-Chinese relations reached unprecedented heights,” Orban wrote on Facebook, while sharing photographs of the visit.
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