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Xiaofei Xu

Hungarian inspectors arrived at a BYD factory being built in the country on Tuesday, a source said, a day after the country’s prime minister, Peter Magyar, announced an investigation into the Chinese carmaker’s investment in Hungary.
Authorities were focused on checking the papers of workers at the factory in Szeged, Hungary’s third-largest city, the source said, including their residency permits, social security cards, contracts and other legal documents.
The Prime Minister’s office in Budapest did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Tuesday’s inspection was part of the investigation, which followed a public outcry over the appointment of former Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto to an executive role at BYD. When he was foreign minister, Szijjarto negotiated the BYD factory deal.
“We will examine every decision, every negotiation and every state commitment of Peter Szijjarto that was connected to the BYD Hungary investment,” Magyar told lawmakers on Monday.
He vowed to expose “every subsidy, tax break, fast-tracked permit, environmental exemption and publicly funded investment” given by Szijjarto to “hand-picked” corporate giants.
BYD did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the South China Morning Post.
The controversy erupted last week when Szijjarto announced on Facebook that he was resigning from parliament to become the executive in charge of BYD’s external relations and new business development.
As a key ally of former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban and long-time foreign minister, Szijjarto was deeply involved in Orban’s “Eastern Opening” policy, which sought to reduce Hungary’s economic dependence on the European Union.


Szijjarto announced the Szeged factory in December 2023, and in May last year signed a strategic cooperation agreement with BYD executive vice-president Stella Li to open the company’s European headquarters in Budapest, at a ceremony attended by Orban and BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu.
Szijjarto has not yet publicly responded to the conflict-of-interest accusations and did not immediately reply to an SCMP request for comment.
Magyar also told journalists on Thursday that an investigation had been opened into Szijjarto’s dealings with Russia, following reports that as foreign minister he had briefed Moscow on EU deliberations.
Hungary’s new government, which assumed power in May after a landslide election win in April, has begun to examine the wave of Chinese investment under Orban, with a focus on compliance with labour and environmental rules.
The SCMP reported in May that BYD had ordered contractors building its Hungarian factory to sign pledges to comply with the country’s labour laws.
Since the controversy erupted last week, some Chinese executives have said they were worried the BYD incident might have a negative impact on all Chinese businesses in the country.
Amid a price war and a reduction in subsidies, both of which have slowed domestic sales, China’s EV manufacturers have turned to exports as an alternative source of profit, with Europe proving particularly lucrative. China’s EV exports to the EU reached US$1.18 billion in June, up nearly 70 per cent year on year, while its plug-in hybrid exports rose 275.5 per cent to US$1.11 billion, according to Chinese customs data.
Authorities also carried out checks at a Chinese company involved in the battery supply chain on Monday, examining labour and environmental compliance as well as its import permits, according to a Chinese executive based in Hungary.
Another Chinese firm, based in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, recently urged its partners to ensure compliance with labour laws and make sure workers had all the right documents because Hungarian authorities had carried out snap inspections, according to an internal email seen by the SCMP.


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Inspectors checking workers’ papers at Chinese carmaker BYD’s factory in Hungary: source

Then Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto at a meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Budapest in February. Photo: AFP

Then Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto and BYD executive vice-president Stella Li sign a contract in Budapest in May last year. Photo: Reuters

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Economy

China Economy

Global Economy

Country’s new prime minister has launched an investigation into the Chinese electric vehicle giant’s investment in Hungary


Country’s new prime minister has launched an investigation into the Chinese electric vehicle giant’s investment in Hungary.


Inspectors checking workers’ papers at Chinese carmaker BYD’s factory in Hungary: source

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Country’s new prime minister has launched an investigation into the Chinese electric vehicle giant’s investment in Hungary

Country’s new prime minister has launched an investigation into the Chinese electric vehicle giant’s investment in Hungary