Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD will invest 32 billion forints ($94 million) in expanding its operations in northern Hungary, with a new plant in the town of Komárom that will triple its annual production capacity of electric buses and trucks, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said on Friday.
The expansion will boost the site’s annual output to 1,250 vehicles and includes plans to establish a research and development laboratory. The Hungarian government will support the project with a 3.1 billion forint grant, according to Szijjártó.
“We Hungarians do not consider East-West cooperation a threat, but rather an opportunity, a big opportunity,” Szijjártó said, emphasizing Hungary’s commitment to strengthening economic ties with China even as some European Union members reconsider their dependencies on Chinese industries.
Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has actively positioned itself as a hub for Chinese investment in Europe. The country has attracted major projects in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, diverging from EU efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.
BYD is also constructing an electric passenger car factory in southern Hungary and has signaled plans to make the country its European operational center. The latest investment comes amid Hungary’s criticism of EU tariffs on Chinese EVs, highlighting its alignment with Beijing on trade policy.
Hungary reportedly received nearly one-third of all Chinese foreign direct investment into Europe last year, with total investment volumes reaching 5.5 trillion forints ($16 billion) across 64 major projects.