Watch: Hungary Gets One Third of All Chinese Investment in Europe
- 29 May 2025 8:04 AM
Just a few years ago, most of Chinese investment in Europe went to the biggest countries like Germany, France and the UK. But these days it’s very different...
Now a little more than half flows to Central and Eastern Europe, with one third of Chinese investment going straight to Hungary - as the video below reveals.
Hungary was the top European destination for Chinese FDI for the second year in a row in 2024, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) said on Thursday, citing a report by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and Rhodium Group.
Hungary received 31pc of all Chinese FDI targeting the EU and the UK in 2024, higher than any other country, the report shows. Germany, France and the UK together accounted for just 20pc.
Total Chinese FDI in the EU and the UK reached EUR 10bn in 2024, climbing 47pc from the previous year. That growth was driven by greenfield projects, particularly in the automotive sector, with EV manufacturing playing a central role. Hungary received 62pc of all Chinese EV-related FDI during the year.
Four of the ten biggest ongoing Chinese projects in the region are located in Hungary, including BYD's passenger car factory in Szeged and CATL's battery plant in Debrecen.
HIPA CEO Istvan Joo noted that BYD had also picked Hungary as the location for its European HQ and R+D centre.
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