Interview: Xi's vision of community with shared future represents China's efforts for world development -- Hungarian expert

Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of the John von Neumann University, speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Budapest, Hungary on March 16, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's idea of a community with a shared future for mankind represents China's attractive vision for world development, a Hungarian expert has said.

"This concept represented China's efforts for world peace, cooperation, and harmony," said Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of the John von Neumann University in Hungary, sharing with Xinhua his feelings when he first heard Xi proposing the notion. He was in China at that time.

From 2005 to 2017, the Hungarian China expert studied, worked, and lived in China. Between 2015 and 2017, he served as consul general of Hungary in Shanghai. He specializes in Chinese politics and diplomacy.

Besides a community with a shared future for mankind, China has, in a row, proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. Horvath believed that these important initiatives advocate mutual respect, equality, and common development among different countries and civilizations in the world, helping achieve mutual benefit.

"The direction of the world development should not be determined by only a few countries, but by all countries in the world," Horvath noted, adding that most countries supported the establishment of a multipolar world, and the BRI proposed by China has been very well received by many countries.

Echoing the idea that all countries should follow a development path that suits their own national conditions, Horvath said, "China has never intended to impose its will on other countries along its 5,000-year history."

"Every civilization has its own history and culture. We cannot only understand the internal and foreign policies of other countries from the perspective and thinking of the West, let alone copy the system of one country onto another," he said.

In recent years, Horvath noted the relationship between Hungary and China has become closer, and the two governments have common or similar positions on a host of issues.

In 2015, Hungary became the first European country to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China.

Currently, a flagship project, the construction of the Hungarian-Serbian railway connecting the Hungarian capital Budapest and the Serbian capital Belgrade, is progressing smoothly. Horvath said that he is very much looking forward to the completion of this project so that Hungarians can benefit from it.

In Horvath's view, China's long-standing traditional culture is something to be proud of, and modern China is an example for the rest of the world in many ways.

With the continuous advancement and deepening of the Belt and Road cooperation, Horvath hoped that China's advanced digital finance and high-speed rail technologies could be introduced to more countries and benefit people worldwide.

Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of the John von Neumann University, poses for a photo in Budapest, Hungary on March 16, 2023. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)