6 June 2023
Representing the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), Deputy Governor Mihály Patai participated as a special guest at the Belt and Road Initiative and RMB Internationalization Forum held in Hong Kong on 6 June, where he was a keynote speaker in the opening session. As special guests, Darryl Chan, Deputy CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Liu Jin, Vice Chairman of the Bank of China, also delivered speeches.
In his speech, Mihály Patai highlighted that Hungary and the People’s Republic of China have a long-standing friendly relationship based on respect and mutual understanding. Referring to the good relations between the two countries, he reminded that Hungary was the first European country to join the Belt and Road initiative, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
The Deputy Governor described the relationship between the Hungarian and Chinese central banks as strong and friendly. Hungary’s central bank was one of the first in Europe to conclude a swap agreement with the Bank of China in September 2013, which has been repeatedly renewed and remains in effect today. Addressing the theme of the conference, he pointed out that the MNB recognised the importance of the renminbi and its growing international role at an early stage, and consequently it launched its own Renminbi Programme in 2015. In Mr Patai’s view, significant progress has been made in recent years in the internationalisation of the renminbi, which moved from eighth to fifth place in the ranking of OTC foreign exchange markets between 2019 and 2022.
Mr Patai stressed that in its aspiration to become a regional financial hub, Hungary is following such outstanding examples as Hong Kong. ‘We follow good examples to learn what the most important cornerstones of a successful financial centre are’, concluded the MNB’s Deputy Governor.