Hungarians need to become better promoters if they want to make the most of the opportunities in the Chinese market, according to Jian Gao, the country’s ambassador to Hungary.
“I don’t think Hungarians are very good at promotions, many people in China don’t know what Tokaj is,” said Gao, who was talking at an AmCham business forum on May 26 about bi-lateral trade links. “We have such a big market, what you are sending to us we can consume over night. In China we only know French wines and French libamáj [Hungarian foie gras].”
Trade figures for the two countries are impressive. “Bilateral trade is obviously growing. Last year, trade volume reached $8.72 billion, 28% more than the year before. It is also 156 times more when compared with 1991.” The figures for January and February of this year showed 27% growth year-on-year at $1.47 billion. “We are expecting that trade volume will hit a record high this year.”
The nature of what is traded has changed, the ambassador said. What she described as “traditional labor intensive goods” now only make up 5% of the whole, while technology, IT products and the like account for 90%. “The growth has obviously been on both sides. We import more electrical engines, cars and IT products from Hungary.” Indeed, she said, one-quarter of all the petrol engines imported into China come from Hungary, worth some $650 million.
Investments, too, are expanding, with $2.5 billion having been plowed into agriculture, logistics, chemicals and IT interests in Hungary. “These joint ventures have recruited around 10,000 local people.” And Hungarian companies are also increasingly evident in China. “By the end of last year, Hungarians had set up over 670 projects of different sizes in China.” She put the total value of investments at $340 million spent on, among other things, water treatment, fisheries and business consultancy.
“Our cooperation is taking on more forms, that is to say it is expanding from traditional areas to the green economy.” The now familiar buzzwords of sustainability and environmental protection are gaining currency here too. In yet another example of how far the two countries have traveled, what is claimed to be the first Chinese international law firm in the world, Yingke Várnai, was established in Hungary in September 2010.
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