中欧地区交通物流枢纽功能凸显

匈牙利一直将中华人民共和国视为独一无二的战略合作伙伴，匈中合作实施了一系列项目和倡议，两国多领域、深层次的合作取得了显著成果，中方也表达了与匈牙利深化合作的兴趣和期待。2010年，匈牙利政府开始实施“向东开放”政策，2015年匈牙利与中国签订了共建“一带一路”倡议谅解备忘录，系欧盟首个签署该协议的国家。2017年匈中将双边关系提升为全面战略伙伴关系。中国与中东欧国家“17+1”机制也为两国在重要领域深化双边合作提供了宝贵平台。

过去几年间，中匈关系取得了许多里程碑式的成就。中国跃升为匈牙利在欧盟以外最大的贸易和投资合作伙伴。得益于中匈在过去几十年间的合作，匈牙利已成为中企投资兴业的热土，也是进入欧洲市场的重要中转站。

中欧班列取得显著成效

中欧班列是中匈在共建“一带一路”倡议框架下建于丝绸之路经济带上的旗舰合作项目，也是具有创新性的新型合作模式。匈牙利企业旨在为中企提供现代化、高效的物流和贸易服务以及国际化仓储库存全产业链一站式服务，帮助中企搭建数字化供应链，并在国际上推广新业态，为匈中加强设施联通和贸易畅通提供助力。

推动两国在现代贸易、物流和电子商务等领域的全面合作是匈牙利政府的主要目标，进一步凸显匈牙利作为中欧班列和欧洲内陆铁路网络交通枢纽的作用。

令匈方非常骄傲的是，截至目前，中欧主要班列线路都途径匈牙利，欧洲内陆铁路网在匈牙利境内纵横交错，货物经由高效安全的现代化铁路网络，源源不断地输送到欧洲的主要城市。

一般情况下，中国的货运列车进入俄罗斯有两种途径——直达或者途径蒙古国和哈萨克斯坦。90%的货运列车会从俄罗斯进入白俄罗斯，随后驶向波兰，在波兰边境完成换装作业后进入欧盟。

然而近几年，随着开行数量的增多，中欧班列在行进至白俄罗斯和波兰边境处时遇到了瓶颈，宽轨和标准轨的换轨处常形成大规模堵塞，造成火车延误，影响按时交货。因此有必要开拓其他线路，分散货运量。 

2017年4月21日，在经历了19天、总长9300公里的旅程后，满载着41个车厢不同种类货物的列车从西安顺利抵达布达佩斯，标志着西安-布达佩斯中欧班列首次开行，同时也标志着首条从中国到匈牙利的中欧班列的开行。匈牙利成为继波兰之后第二个拥有中欧直达班列的中东欧国家。

2017年5月27日，中欧商贸物流合作园区与湖南中欧班列共同运营的湖南省长沙市至匈牙利布达佩斯“中欧班列”从长沙霞凝铁路货场始发，绕开俄罗斯-白俄罗斯-波兰这条传统的亚欧线路，掉头向南，从二连浩特口岸出境进入蒙古国，途径俄罗斯、乌克兰和匈牙利，并在乌克兰、匈牙利和斯洛伐克交界处，从宽轨换到窄轨。长沙-布达佩斯中欧班列的成功开行得到了中匈企业的积极响应，这条班列成为了中匈间首条稳定开行的班列。

相隔不到一年，于2017年11月28日，布达佩斯至长沙的回程班列首次开行，中欧班列中匈环程线路正式开通。2018年1月，由陕西省西安市始发至匈牙利布达佩斯的首班中欧班列（西安-布达佩斯）紧随其后开行，标志着从阿拉山口/

霍尔果斯口岸出境，途径哈萨克斯坦、俄罗斯、乌克兰和匈牙利，从南部进入欧洲的班列路线正式开通。2019年6月，由江西省赣州市始发至布达佩斯的中欧班列开行。2019年8月，中欧班列（济南-布达佩斯）开行，标志着从华北到布达佩斯的首条直达中欧班列路线正式开通。

截至目前，从长沙、西安、成都、重庆、济南、赣州、金华（义乌）七个城市始发的班列可将货物经由匈牙利送至欧洲市场。

为中欧班列发展提供保障

匈牙利政府将建设现代化、运营良好的铁路交通视为工作重点。匈方相信国内交通发展的基石就是铁路，因此政府必须保证铁路运行的安全性、可靠性、创新性、可持续性和灵活性，这就需要持续进行铁路基础设施和铁道机车车辆的现代化。匈塞铁路是共建“一带一路”倡议框架下中匈合作的典范。随着铁路不断进行现代化翻修，匈牙利将为中国货物提供从希腊港口到西欧最便捷的交通路线。近期希腊比雷埃夫斯港的吞吐量增长了将近十倍，因此将中国货物以最快的速度穿过匈牙利最后抵达西欧市场符合匈牙利的本国利益。假如匈政府的计划顺利实施，货运班列从东亚到欧洲所需时间将从24日缩减到14日。

多年来，中欧班列定期往返于匈中两地，匈政府未来计划加大力度改善铁路基础设施，进一步突出匈牙利中欧地区物流枢纽的地位。

2019年，匈牙利在共建“一带一路”倡议框架下在扎霍尼投资了乌克兰-匈牙利铁路走廊，为中匈货运列车的通行提供了坚实保障。通过发展南部的匈塞铁路线路，以及匈牙利和欧盟东部边境的工业园区，匈政府希望在地区物流领域发挥更加重要的作用，最大限度利用好本国的优势条件和资源禀赋。如果东部地区成功实现转型，成为了重要的交通枢纽，货运列车将会从多个铁路线路经过扎霍尼通达10个国家、13个大型城市。

中欧商贸物流合作园区在扎霍尼为中企提供了建造生产车间和工厂、设立欧盟分公司的绝佳平台，不仅为中方提供了场地，更在各种行政和法律事务上提供支持，以便中企在匈牙利设立的厂房以最快速度投入使用，这将为匈牙利经济注入强劲动力，创造大量就业岗位，是中匈互惠合作的体现。

匈方希望到2030年，从布达佩斯延展出去的高铁线路网络能够联通维谢格拉德集团四个国家的首都——华沙、布拉格、布拉迪斯拉发和布达佩斯。除了铁路和公路联通之外，为了满足日渐增多的进出口航空货运需求，中国的物流企业也不断地在欧洲的航空运输领域寻找合作机会。为此，匈牙利积极参与空中丝绸之路货运枢纽项目，并在过去几年间取得了许多里程碑式的重要成就。

促进两国多领域合作

中匈在“一带一路”倡议框架下开展的合作项目旨在以匈牙利为中转站连通中欧地区与全球最重要的贸易线路（丝绸之路经济带）。中匈在多个领域展开的互惠合作不仅能够带来更多的就业机会，还能增强中企在匈牙利开展业务的信心。如今匈牙利已成为重要的交通枢纽与辐射欧洲市场的物流中心，同时也是中企投资兴业的理想之地，这得益于两国政府的大力支持和两国建立起来的全面战略伙伴关系。

过去一年，新冠肺炎疫情使全球经历了一场大转型。非常时期全球供应链遭受了重大冲击，在这种形势下，中欧班列仍设法保证欧亚供应链的安全稳定运转。随着内陆交通需求的不断上升，匈牙利希望与中国及其他合作伙伴一道，在多种合作框架下，通过打造安全现代化的物流体系，进一步发挥连接不同地区的枢纽作用。

国家间开展贸易的障碍越少，经济复苏的速度就越快，眼下特殊时期高举贸易自由化旗帜具有前所未有的重要意义。匈方支持国家间开展自由公平的贸易活动，并希望与中方进一步加深合作。

编辑 | 张   梅

翻译 | 齐晓彤

设计 | 大   米

Hungary
has always considered the People's Republic of China as an exceptional
strategic partner and China has expressed its appreciation and interest
in Hungary as the two sides have partnered and implemented a number of
projects and initiatives that have been successfully launched and are
operating in all areas of our relations and at all levels of our
cooperation. The “Opening to the East” policy of the Hungarian
Government since 2010, the “Belt and Road Initiative” of which Hungary
was the first EU member to join in 2015, the Comprehensive Strategic
Partnership between China and Hungary established in 2017 and the 17+1
cooperation mechanism platforms have long contributed to deepen
relations in many fields of key importance.

Important
milestones were achieved in the past years while China also became
Hungary’s largest trade and investment partner outside the EU. As a
result of our countries long lasting partnership in the past decades,
Hungary has become an important destination for many Chinese companies
and has become an important transit and distribution point for accessing
the European market.

China-Europe Railway Express Yields Remarkable Results

The
new model of innovative cooperation on the "Silk Road Economic Belt" is
aworthwhile project in the "Belt and Road" cooperation between China
and Hungary. It creates the environment for Hungarian enterprises to
provide modern and efficient logistic and trade services for Chinese
enterprises, one-stop services for the whole chain of international
warehousing, support the establishment of digital supply chains and the
international marketing of new industries while also helping Hungary and
China to further strengthen facility connectivity and trade flow. 

Promoting
comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in the fields of
modern trade, logistics and e-commerce are major goals of the Hungarian
Government to further emphasize the role of Hungary as a land
transportation hub for China-Europe freight trains and European inland
trains. 

We
are proud to say that by today, all major Chinese and European trains
are concentrated in Hungary with dozens of European inland railroads
crisscrossing the country, allowing goods to be delivered to all major
European cities within a short period of time via a well-developed and
continuously improving rail network.
Generally all freight trains in
China enter Russia directly or indirectly (via Mongolia and Kazakhstan).
Then 90% of the freight trains enter Belarus from Russia, and from
Belarus to Poland. After another change of tracks at the Polish border,
the goods enter the European Union.

However,
in recent years, with the rapid increase in the number of trains, the
operation and transhipment of China-Europe freight trains has faced a
bottleneck at the Belarus-Poland border, as serious congestion has
developed at the intersections of the broad-gauge and standard-gauge
lines at the borders of the European Union.  The current issue – that
seriously affects train schedules and delivery time -, makes it clear
that it is essential to build alternative lines to ensure that none of
the lines would face overloading problems.

On
April 21, 2017 the first China-European freight train from Xi'an
successfully arrived at Budapest after 19 days and 9,300 kilometres
carrying 41 carriages of various goods. The day marks the date when the
first China-European Express line was established between our countries
and Hungary has become the first Central and Eastern European country to
be directly served by the China-European Express other than Poland.

Soon
after, on May 27, 2017, the Hunan Changsha-Budapest China-European
freight train led by CECZ (Central European Trade and Logistics
Cooperation Zone) and jointly operated by Hunan-Europe Express, departed
from Changsha Xialing Station breaking the traditional
Russia-Belarus-Poland route into Europe and opening the southern route
into Europe via the exit of Erenhot, through Mongolia-Russia-Ukraine and
Hungary, where at the junction of Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia, the
wide tracks are replaced by narrow tracks. After the successful opening
of Changsha-Budapest CEB train, it was immediately recognized by the
national train market and became the first China-Hungary CEB train in
regular operation.

In
the same year, on November 28, 2017, the first Budapest-Changsha return
train was officially launched, marking the official arrival of a
round-trip China-European freight train from China to Hungary. Quickly
following the trend, in January 2018, the first Xi'an-Budapest
"Chang'an" China-European freight train arrived and has been running
smoothly ever since, taking the lead in opening up the southern route to
Europe via Alashankou/Khorgos, and crossing Kazakhstan-Russia-Ukraine
and Hungary. In June 2019, the first Jiangxi Ganzhou-Budapest
China-European freight train arrived, followed by the Jinan-Budapest
"Qilu" Eurasian freight train, the first direct China-European freight
train to Budapest from North China in August 2019. 

As
of today, 7 cities and regions (Changsha, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing,
Jinan, Ganzhou, Jinhua (Yiwu)) are connected and moving their products
through Hungary with the established, scheduled China-European freight
trains.

Support to the Development of China-Europe Railway Express

The
Hungarian Government considers the implementation of a modern,
competitive railway transport to be a priority. We believe that the
backbone of every domestic transport is the railway, which must be
secure, reliable, innovative, sustainable and flexible. The basic
condition for this is the joint and continuous modernization of the
railway infrastructure and rolling stock. One of the main benchmark
projects of the Sino-Hungarian cooperation is the modernization of the
Budapest-Belgrade railway line within the framework of the BRI. With the
renovation of the railway line, Hungary will offer the fastest
transport route for Chinese goods between Greek ports and Western
Europe. In the recent period, the traffic in the port of Piraeus in
Greece has increased almost tenfold and therefore it is in Hungary's
interest for Chinese goods to reach Western Europe the fastest through
Hungary. According to our soon to be implemented goals, the duration of
railway cargo transport between East Asia and Europe will be reduced
from 24 to 14 days.

As
China-Europe freight trains has been running between Hungary and China
on a regular basis for years, further developments for railroad
infrastructure were taken by the Hungarian Government to emphasize the
country’s role as a Central European logistics hub. 

In
2019, Hungary invested in the development of the Ukrainian-Hungarian
railroad corridor at Záhony as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, a
route providing a solid guarantee for the future passage of
China-Hungary freight trains. With the development additionally to the
southern Budapest-Belgrade path, as well as with the establishment of
industrial parks at the eastern borders of Hungary and the European
Union, we seek to play a central role in regional logistics, maximizing
the favorable conditions and regional endowments of our country.
Transforming the mentioned eastern region into a major transportation
hub, trains will be able to reach 13 major cities in 10 different
countries along the different railway lines, with all running through
Záhony. 

At
Záhony, the Central European Trade and Logistics Zone (CELIZ) project
also secures a great platform for Chinese companies to establish their
plants, factories, affiliates in the territory of the European Union. It
provides them with a site and also supports them in all administrative
and legal matters in order to put their production units into operation
in Hungary as soon as possible. This cooperation is also mutually
beneficial for both the Hungarian and the Chinese sides, as it will
significantly contribute to the improvement of the performance of the
Hungarian economy and will create many new jobs.

We
also envisage that by 2030, the capital cities of the Visegrad Group
(V4) countries Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava and Budapest will also be
accessible on high-speed railway lines from Budapest but besides rail
and road connectivity, Chinese logistics companies are also constantly
looking for solutions and cooperation opportunities in Europe in the
field of air cargo handling for the huge, ever-increasing export-import
air cargo volumes. Therefore, Hungary participates actively in the Air
Silk Road freight hub projects, and has also reached important
milestones in the past years.

The Deepening of Bilateral Cooperation on Multiple Fronts

As
part of the Belt and Road Initiative, these projects link the Central
European region to one of the most important trade routes in the world
through Hungary. Mutually benefiting successful initiatives around the
various fields of cooperation do not only bring more job opportunities,
but also increase the confidence of Chinese companies in Hungary. Due to
the continuous support from the Governments and the comprehensive
strategic partnership, by today, Hungary has turned to be an important
transit and distribution centre for entering the European market while
also becoming a key destination for many Chinese companies. 

Over
the past year, we could witness the transformations the epidemic
(COVID-19) has brought to the world, but despite the heavily disrupted
global supply chains during these extraordinary times, China-Europe
Express trains managed to keep the Eurasian supply chains running
seamlessly. As the demand continuously grows for inland transport
opportunities, Hungary is devoted to further increase its role in
connecting regions with advanced and safe logistics with the help of our
Chinese friends and partners, within various frameworks of
cooperation. 

We
support free and fair global trade, which is even more important than
ever before: the fewer the obstacles, the faster the recovery.

Editor | Zhang Mei

Design | Demi