Hungary strengthens economic ties with China through major investment

Key Points

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Chen Wenqing, a senior official of the Chinese Communist Party, in Budapest.

• Orbán emphasized the importance of stable relations between Hungary and China in the current global economic context.

• In 2024, China became the largest investor in Hungary in terms of investment volume.

• Chinese companies such as CATL, Semcorp, EVE Power, and Sunwoda are making significant contributions to the Hungarian economy.

• BYD will relocate its headquarters to Hungary and is building its first European factory in Szeged, with production scheduled to begin in the autumn.

• Over the past ten years, 54 major Chinese investments have been made in Hungary, worth approximately EUR 17.3 billion, creating more than 30,000 new jobs.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Chen Wenqing, Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, on Friday morning in Budapest.

Orbán emphasized that, in today’s challenging global economic environment, the stability of Hungarian-Chinese relations is becoming increasingly important.

In 2024, China was the largest investor in Hungary in terms of investment volume. Chinese companies such as CATL, Semcorp, EVE Power, and Sunwoda operate in the country, making significant contributions to the Hungarian economy.

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 13: (L-R) Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People on February 13, 2014 in Beijing, China. Orban is on an official visit to China and is expected to hold meetings with Chinese counterparts to boost ties between the two countries. (Photo by Rolex Dela Pena - Pool/Getty Images)

Last week, Orbán welcomed Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and CEO of BYD, and Wang Weizhong, Governor of Guangdong Province, to his office. After the meeting, it was announced that BYD will relocate its headquarters to Hungary. The company is already building its first European factory in Szeged, in southern Hungary, with production scheduled to begin in the autumn.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó recalled at a conference in April that, over the past ten years, 54 major Chinese investments worth HUF 7,000 billion (approximately EUR 17.3 billion) have been made in Hungary with government support, directly creating more than 30,000 new jobs.w jobs.

Economic and trade relations

China is Hungary's main trading partner outside Europe, while Hungary is one of China's most important partners in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2024, bilateral trade between the two countries reached about $16.2 billion, an increase of 11.6 percent from the previous year.

Chinese exports to Hungary totaled about $11.4 billion, up 16.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, China’s imports from Hungary amounted to around $4.8 billion, representing a 1.5% annual increase.

Bilateral trade is largely driven by high value-added electromechanical and high-tech products. The four main sectors—engines, electrical equipment and spare parts, boilers and mechanical equipment, vehicles and spare parts, as well as optical, photographic, and medical equipment—account for over 80% of the total trade volume.

China and Hungary established the Joint Economic Committee in 1984. In April 2025, Ling Ji, China’s Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy International Trade Negotiator, and Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, along with Deputy Minister Magyar, co-chaired the 21st meeting of the China-Hungary Joint Economic Committee in Budapest.

Financial cooperation

In September 2013, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Hungary signed a bilateral currency swap agreement worth 10 billion RMB (375 billion Hungarian forints). This was the first local currency swap agreement between China and a country in Central and Eastern Europe.

In December 2014, Li Zaohang, Vice President of the Bank of China’s headquarters, visited Hungary and attended the opening ceremony of the Bank of China’s Hungarian branch.

In June 2015, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Hungary signed an agreement allowing the Chinese central bank to act as an agent for the Hungarian central bank to invest in China’s interbank bond market. They also agreed to extend the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) pilot program to Hungary, with an investment quota of 50 billion RMB. At the same time, the Bank of China in Hungary was authorized to serve as the RMB clearing bank in Hungary—the first such bank in Central and Eastern Europe.

In April 2016, Hungary issued 1 billion RMB in “Panda Bonds,” becoming the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to issue RMB-denominated bonds. In December 2018, Hungary issued another 2 billion yuan in Panda Bonds. In December 2021, Hungary issued a third round of Panda Bonds, this time 1 billion yuan in green bonds—the first sovereign green Panda Bond on the market. The funds raised are intended to support sustainable and low-carbon development in Hungary. In November 2022, Hungary issued an additional 2 billion yuan in sovereign green Panda Bonds.

Cooperation in other areas

There are currently 6 Confucius Institutes and 2 Confucius Classrooms in Hungary.