Cited by Bloomberg, Hungarian abroad Minister Péter Szijjárto announced fresh Chinese investments in the Hungarian automotive sector on 15 May during his visit to Beijing. China has to contribute €3 billion to a €7.3 billion joint Chinese Contemporary Amparex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL) and the German Mercedes-Benz Group AG in an electrical car battery mill in Hungary.
According to Mr Szijárto, the investment will be a step towards making Hungary the regional leader of the transformation towards electrical transport. According to the Hungarian minister, Hungary has become the gathering place for east battery technology and Western automotive industry.
As diagnosed by the Rhodium Group study announced on 9 May and Mercator Institute for Chinese Studies (MERICAS), China has become a planet leader in the production of electrical cars and batteries for them, while in Europe, which intends to ban combustion cars up to 2035, there are fewer companies involved. This underlines the importance of Chinese investments in the electrical transport sector, which have reached USD 17.5 billion in Europe since 2018. Hungary is the main centre on the continent – after England, France and Germany – of Chinese investments in the EV sector.
Last week, the Chinese battery maker Eve Power besides announced a $1.2 billion. USD investment in battery production in Hungary by German BMW AG. "We want to constantly make the European Union's cooperation with China. (...) However, this will not be possible if the EU places Chinese companies on the list of sanctioned or import control," said Mr Szijjárto after gathering with the head of the Chinese Ministry of abroad Affairs Quin Gang and the president of CATL Yukun Zeng, thus making it clear that Budapest is opposed to the force of Washington and Brussels to subject Chinese operators to restrictions.
Following a gathering with representatives of Huawei Technologies, P. Szijjárto announced the investment of this company in the investigation and improvement program in 5G technology at the educational Hungarian public officials of the Budapestan University of civilian Service (Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyet). “We keep our position on the global marketplace of telecoms providers, without excluding companies from competition based on their country of origin,” said Mr Szijárto.
"Hungary does not see China as a threat, but as a state, with which it makes large profits," said the head of the Hungarian MFA in Beijing. According to him, Hungary opposes the division of the planet into hostile blocks, and the European Union should not see China as a rival due to the fact that it will lose. "We support common communication and division of East-West labour in key sectors of the economy. (...) There is no argument against reducing the hazard of a global division of labour.” said Mr Szijárto in the Chinese capital.
Hungary is the most conservative and at the same time the most pro-Russian and pro-Russian state of the European Union. They are the leader of Central Europe in accepting Chinese investments. They granted the most approvals to food exporters to China. China is Hungary's largest trading partner outside Europe and Hungarian trade with only the Chinese state of Zhejiang amounted to US$1.6 billion in 2022.
Hungary has the most in Central Europe of Confucius Institutes. They besides have the most airline connections to your centre. They were the first to open up to Chinese tourists after putting out global hysteria around COVID-19.
The Hungarian minister besides supported Beijing's position on the war in Ukraine. According to Mr Szijárto, this war poses a peculiar threat to Hungary in relation to Ukraine neighbouringly. This is why Hungary is “provoking peace” and wants to halt fighting and cease arms and start peace talks as shortly as possible.
However, as the head of the Hungarian MFA stated, "Unfortunately, war rhetoric is very strong in the world, especially in the transatlantic camp." Therefore, “the voice of the camp of peace must be constantly strengthened” to show that “most of the planet wants peace.” Budapest "regards the function of the People's Republic of China" in strengthening the voice of the peace camp and intends to work closely with Beijing on this.
Hungary appreciates the fresh steps taken by China for peace; "We are very affirmative about China's peace plan," said Mr Szijjárto. For Hungary, China's initiative is peculiarly valuable due to the fact that "when it comes to Ukraine, everyone is talking only about war". Mr Szijárto announced Budapest's "close cooperation" with Beijing to "enhance the voice of the peace camp".
Ronald Lasecki
