Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Hungary to continue to play an active role in maintaining and enhancing relations between China and Europe on Friday.

In his telephone conversation with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, Wang said Hungary is an important participant in 17+1 cooperation – a cooperation mechanism between China and 17 Central and Eastern European countries.

China has stressed that 17+1 cooperation is part of its cooperation with Europe and a helpful complement to its cooperation with the European Union.

Szijjarto said Hungary is willing to play an active part in promoting the healthy development of Europe-China relations, adding that it is always a strong supporter of 17+1 cooperation.

Since the international situation has entered a period of turbulence and change, Wang said, China and Hungary should strengthen strategic communication and coordination to safeguard the two countries' legitimate rights and interests and contribute to promoting world peace and stability.

Szijjarto told Wang that Hungary opposes foreign intervention in China's internal affairs and will continue to deepen bilateral ties on the basis of mutual respect.

The two diplomats also exchanged views on fighting COVID-19 and boosting business cooperation.

Wang hailed the strong resilience and broad space in economic and trade exchanges between the two countries despite the impacts of the pandemic.

The cargo flight between Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province and Hungarian capital Budapest opened an efficient and convenient "air corridor" linking the two countries, and many flagship cooperation projects, including the Belgrade-Budapest railway, have achieved progress, he noted.

Wang said China supports its enterprises to invest and develop in Hungary and carry out vaccine cooperation with the Hungarian side in compliance with laws and regulations, and China will continue facilitating the Hungarian procurement of anti-pandemic goods and materials in China.

Szijjarto spoke highly of the significant results achieved in anti-epidemic cooperation between the two countries and expressed hope that China will continue providing support and convenience for Hungary's procurement of anti-epidemic medicines and vaccines in China.

The Hungarian foreign minister said China is welcome to broaden investment in his country, which will never adopt discriminative policies against Chinese enterprises.

(With input from Xinhua)