On October 25, Shenyang City of the People’s Republic of China and Békéscsaba City of County Rank of Hungary held the online signing ceremony of Agreement on the Establishment of Friendly and Cooperative Relationship. Mayor Lyu Zhicheng of Shenyang and Mayor Szarvas Peter of Békéscsaba signed the agreement online. This marks that the number of international friendship cities of Shenyang reached 101.

Mayor Lyu Zhicheng noted in his speech that China and Hungary are old friends and good partners, sharing a long-lasting friendship between the two countries and two peoples. This year marks the 5th anniversary of the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Hungary, which has laid a solid foundation for further exchanges and cooperation at sub-national levels. Shenyang will take the establishment of friendly and cooperative relationship as an opportunity to work together with Békéscsaba to jointly play an active role in Belt and Road cooperation, fully leverage their complementarity in areas such as resource endowment and industrial development, broaden and deepen exchanges and cooperation between the two cities,  and build a bridge of friendship together for win-win development at higher levels. 

Mayor Szarvas Peter highlighted in his speech that the choice of friends is based on mutual respect and trust. One of the most important objectives of their cooperation is to establish friendly relations, strengthen communication, create more opportunities for win-win development of the two cities, and jointly promote cultural and economic progress.

Qi Dayu, the Chinese ambassador to Hungary, sent a congratulatory letter to the ceremony, pointing out that this year marks the 73rd anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 5th anniversary of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Hungary. As an important part of China-Hungary practical cooperation, sub-national cooperation has played an important role in enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and promoting the development of bilateral relations. It is hoped that the two cities will further enhance their friendship, achieve more fruitful outcomes in their cooperation, jointly open a new chapter in the history of friendly exchanges and contribute to China-Hungary comprehensive strategic partnership. 

Located in the southeast of Hungary, Békéscsaba is the capital and administrative center of the Békés County and one of the 24 cities of county rank in Hungary, and enjoys a long history and rich cultural heritages. Its agricultural products processing and automobile manufacturing industries are well developed. Since 2015, the two cities have carried out multi-level in-depth exchanges in economy, trade, culture and other fields. With the signing of the agreement, the two sides will facilitate all-round exchanges and cooperation in areas such as economy, trade, tourism, science and technology, culture, education, healthcare and environmental protection. With favorable conditions such as the China-Europe freight trains, the two cities will build a new platform for Belt and Road cooperation, and promote Shenyang to build itself into a national central city and an international central city in Northeast Asia.