Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday, who is in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).

Calling Orban "an old friend," Xi noted that the Hungarian prime minister has long attached importance to his country's relations with China.

"You have actively supported jointly building the Belt and Road and made contributions to promoting high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation," said Xi.

Noting this is Orban's third time attending the BRF, Xi expressed appreciation, adding he would like to work with the Hungarian prime minister and other BRF's participating leaders to share the vision of cooperation, draw up a blueprint for development and promote greater development of cooperation in building the Belt and Road in the next 10 years.

The Chinese president also pointed out that Hungary was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and the traditional friendship between the two countries has a long history.

In recent years, regardless of the changing international situation, China-Hungary relations have maintained a high level of development, Xi said.

He said China is willing to take the China-Hungary comprehensive strategic partnership to new levels.

Xi also called on the two sides to firmly support each other's choice of development path, deepen alignment of their development strategies and share the development opportunities and results.

He also mentioned that cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) is in the common interests of both sides, adding that China is willing to work with Hungary to continue to lead China-CEEC cooperation in the right direction, continuously enrich the content of China-CEEC cooperation and help Sino-European relations move steadily forward.

Hungary has firmly supported the Belt and Road Initiative from the very beginning and believes that the initiative can bring changes to the world and benefit more people, Orban said.

The prime minister added that Hungary will continue to support the Belt and Road cooperation.

Under the current complicated geopolitical situation, Hungary is committed to deepening friendly and cooperative relations with China and will continue to be China's trusted friend and partner in the EU, Orban stressed.

He voiced against any form of so-called decoupling and de-risking, saying the Hungarian side is willing to work with China to strengthen cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment and connectivity and to deepen people-to-people exchanges.

The Hungarian side will continue to actively promote cooperation between CEEC and China and promote the healthy and stable development of Europe-China relations, Orban added.