BUDAPEST — Hungary will continue to further strengthen political, economic and people-to-people cooperation with China so as to jointly open a new chapter of Asia-Europe cooperation, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a financial forum that concluded here Wednesday.

Hungary is among the first countries that welcomed the Belt and Road Initiative and cooperation between the two countries is very successful, said Orban in an opening speech during the Asian Financial Cooperation Association (AFCA)-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) summit forum.

Echoing his words, Huang Hong, vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said China has benefitted from its reform and opening up policy and at the same time promotes global development.

China will continue to deepen the financial cooperation between Asia and Europe with reform and opening up as a driving engine, he added.

The two-day event gathered 260 Hungarian and Chinese officials and scholars who discussed such topics as challenges faced by financial industry in globalization and banking industry' role in the development of Asia and CEE region, among others.

The AFCA held its inaugural ceremony in Beijing in July this year. The organization has 107 institutions from around the world as founding members, covering banking, securities, insurance and other financial areas.