China now stands as Hungary’s most significant economic partner outside the European Union, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said during a business breakfast with Chinese corporate leaders in Budapest. He emphasized that last year, 31 per cent of all Chinese investment entering Europe was directed to Hungary, reflecting the deepening strategic relationship between the two countries.
According to the ministry’s statement, Szijjártó stressed that Hungary’s foreign policy is built on connectivity and East–West cooperation, rejecting any return to global bloc formation. This approach underpins the Eastern Opening policy launched 15 years ago, which he said has brought the Hungarian–Chinese partnership into an entirely new era.
‘Today, China is our most important economic partner outside the EU. China is the leading investor in Hungary in 2020, 2023, 2024, and so far in 2025,’ he said. If all ongoing and planned projects are completed, Chinese capital accumulated in Hungary will exceed 30 billion euros, making Chinese companies the country’s second-largest investor group after Germany.
He added that China is now Hungary’s biggest non-EU trading partner, helping maintain competitiveness despite Europe’s challenging economic climate. Last year alone, four of the five largest Chinese investments in Europe landed in Hungary. In 2023, 44 per cent of all Chinese investment entering Europe flowed into the country; last year the figure was 31 per cent—far more than the combined share directed to France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
‘China is our most important economic partner outside the EU’
Szijjártó said these numbers illustrate the depth of the ‘all-weather strategic partnership’ agreed last year by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Xi Jinping—an agreement he described as substantive rather than symbolic.
He assured Chinese companies that Hungary will continue providing full support to high-tech, job-creating investments, aiming to remain the most attractive European destination for Chinese firms. Over the past 11 years, the Hungarian state has backed 72 Chinese projects worth around 2 billion euros, generating more than 15 billion euros in investment and creating some 30,000 jobs. 11 of the government’s 99 strategic partners are Chinese companies.
Szijjártó also noted the mutual visa facilitation measures in place: China has extended visa-free travel for Hungarian citizens until the end of next year, while Hungary continues to grant long-term visas to executives of major Chinese investors and has shortened processing times for business visas to 48 hours.
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