Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said a number of big Chinese companies will launch manufacturing capacity in Hungary in 2025 or early 2026, making a big contribution to ensuring 2025 is a "breakthrough" year for the local economy.
Speaking in Budapest on Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the Hungarian-Chinese Joint Economic Committee, Minister Szijjártó said that both countries had profited from their cooperation and wanted to advance it further in the framework of a strategic partnership agreement extending to all areas signed in 2024.
Minister Szijjártó noted that Chinese companies had brought the most FDI to Hungary in 2020, 2023 and 2024.
In the past ten years, the foreign minister said Chinese companies had undertaken 54 big investments with a combined value of HUF 7,000bn, creating more than 30,000 jobs. He added that those companies had put Hungary at the "forefront" of the electromobility revolution.
He said Chinese EV manufacturer BYD would start production at its plant in Hungary, the company's first in Europe, early in 2026, while production at the local plant of Chinese battery maker CATL would start in 2025. Huayou Cobalt will start production at its local unit in the summer, and Semcorp will do the same in the autumn, he added.
Those investments will give Hungary's economy a big boost and make 2025 a "breakthrough" year, he said.
Minister Szijjártó said the sides had affirmed their intent to see R+D and service investments from China brought to Hungary, too. He added that Hungary was the number one target for Chinese investments in Europe.
He said that Hungary was also an air cargo hub for Chinese goods in Central Europe. He added that big Chinese electronics companies had accounted for over half of cargo volume at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International in 2024.
A weekly 37 cargo flights and 21 passenger flights connect Hungary and China, he said.
He said the European Commission had made a "huge mistake" when it decided to levy tariffs on Chinese EVs. He also called out the EC for failing to negotiate with the United States before the rollout of tariffs.