BUDAPEST - Bank of China in Hungary and China UnionPay issued the first Chinese renminbi and Hungarian forint debit card here on Monday.

This is the first renminbi bank card to be issued in Europe by Bank of China.

The card will operate in Hungarian forints as well as Chinese renmibi. People can draw cash through ATMs and at point of sale locations with UnionPay logo all over the world.

Xu Luode, executive vice president at Bank of China said at the card issuing ceremony that the debit card was an important achievement of financial cooperation between China and Hungary. It is also an important symbol of internationalization of the renminbi in Europe, he said.

It will facilitate the advance of the Belt and Road initiative as well as Chinese-Hungarian economic and financial ties, Xu added.

Plans call for Bank of China to introduce similar cards in Prague, Vienna, and Belgrade, according to the bank.