China’s investments in Europe rose in 2024 for the first time in nine years, with Hungary reaffirming its position as the region’s leading hub for Chinese capital.
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The investments shot up 47 per cent from a year earlier, to €10 billion (US$11.23 billion), according to a new joint report from the Mercator Institute for China Studies and Rhodium Group, two research houses.
It marked the first rise since 2016, the year in which European governments’ serious concerns over Chinese investments first emerged. The purchase of Kuka, a German manufacturer of industrial robots and factory automation systems, by Chinese appliance maker Midea Group stoked fears that Beijing was hoovering up Europe’s critical technology companies.
The subsequent nine years saw a significant cooling in investment, as the EU implemented a foreign direct investment screening mechanism designed to protect its crown jewels. While things are picking up again amid Chinese companies being frozen out of other markets – notably the US – they are still well below the rates seen before 2017.
The report found that 53.2 per cent of China’s investments in high-income economies flowed into Europe, with the EU and Britain accounting for 19.1 per cent of all foreign direct investment from the country – the first meaningful hike since 2018.
Greenfield investments in Europe – meaning Chinese companies launching new ventures by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up – rose 21 per cent compared to 2023, the third straight annual increase. Mergers and acquisitions, meanwhile, jumped 114 per cent to €4.1 billion, although this came from a very low base.