BUDAPEST — The trade between Hungary and China remained strong despite an overall setback of Hungary's foreign trade due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA) told Xinhua on Sept 11.

"Based on the available data, the total foreign trade of Hungary recorded a significant setback in the first half-year of 2020, however the trade between Hungary and China remained strong," HEPA said.

"According to the data of the first six months, the value of Hungarian exports to China could increase by 4 percent while the import rose with even higher pace, by 20 percent on a half year-on-half year basis," HEPA added.

"In the first half-year of 2020, the Hungarian export of processed products and food, beverages and tobacco to China showed a 60.67 percent increase compared to the same period last year," HEPA said.

The promotion agency underlined that over the last years, China gained more and more importance as Hungary's trading partner, "It has already obtained primary position amongst the trade partners of Hungary outside Europe."

For this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, HEPA said that the agency was pleased to hear in April that the Chinese government declared the third CIIE will take place despite the challenges this year.

"Our Agency is ready to take every opportunity which can raise the awareness of the high-quality Hungarian products, so we plan to have a national pavilion with strong focus on the Hungarian innovations and tourist attractions. Even if the international business environment is quite uncertain, we still hope to take advantage of this great event by introducing our country's assets and opportunities," HEPA concluded.