CHINESE COMPANIES SEEK MARKETS IN HUNGARY AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BUDAPEST 000380 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE JLAMORE, INR FOR JWIECKING; NSC FOR JHOUVENIR E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2019 TAGS: PREL EINV ETRD ECON CHN HU SUBJECT: CHINESE COMPANIES SEEK MARKETS IN HUNGARY AND CENTRAL EUROPE REF: 07 BUDAPEST 01593 BUDAPEST 00000380 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: ACTING POL/ECON COUNSELOR STEVEN WESTON FOR REASONS 1.4( b) AND (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Despite the sharp economic downturn in Hungary this year, Chinese trade missions, economic development conferences, and other trade and investment-focused exchanges between China and Hungary are continuing at a brisk pace. As the bilateral economic relationship between the countries matures, Chinese companies are increasingly looking at Hungary as a place to invest, instead of merely as an export market. Hungarian officials believe this is a result of the Chinese Government's "go global" campaign of economic expansion, and are trying to capitalize on it by promoting Hungary as China's "gateway to Europe." This approach not only encourages the exports of finished Chinese products, but also promotes Chinese investment in Hungary, particularly in distribution and logistics projects, as well as in light manufacturing to enable products to qualify for "made in the EU" designation. ¶2. (SBU) A number of current and planned investment projects appear to have been developed with this goal in mind, including a rail transfer station and planned industrial park near the border with Ukraine, and a cargo airport linked to a planned industrial park near the Austrian border. The global economic crisis appears to be slowing the pace of Chinese investment, however, while at the same time, shrinking export markets for Chinese products globally is causing many Chinese firms to re-focus on developing export markets in Hungary and Central Europe. End summary. FROM EXPORTS TO INVESTMENT ¶3. (SBU) Until the past few years, Chinese interest in Hungary was primarily as a market for exports. In 2008, Chinese imports into Hungary totaled Euro 4.2 billion, accounting for approximately 5.7 percent of all Hungarian imports, and making China one of Hungary's largest importers outside of the EU. According to Geza Vass, Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Development, as the bilateral economic relationship matures, however, China is increasingly looking at Hungary as a potential destination for direct investment. Tibor Dessewffy of the Demos Hungary Foundation points to the visit of former Hungarian Prime Minister Medgyessy to China in 2002 as beginning the period of ccelerated economic cooperation between the two countries. In recent years, Chinese investors have established a number of manufacturing facilities in Hungary, primarily in the areas of consumer electronics and telecommunications. The Ministry of Economy estimates that the total stock of Chinese direct investment in Hungary is approximately USD 1 billion (although other reports suggest the amount is considerably lower, around USD 600-800 million). By comparison, estimated U.S. direct investment in Hungary since 1989 is estimated at USD 9 billion. ¶4. (C) Agnes Henter, Director for Investment Projects for the Investment and Trade Development Agency of Hungary (ITDH) notes, however, that the modest investment figure does not accurately reflect the level of interest of Chinese investors in Hungary. She describes Chinese companies as "aggressively" looking at Hungary, and notes that there have been a large number of Chinese business groups visiting Hungary recently, most notably a delegation of 42 Chinese companies involved in the alternative energy, components, and ICT sectors visiting Hungary in March. Henter also noted that the Chinese government is fully sponsoring a visit to China this month of Hungarian companies and government officials. ¶5. (C) Erika Pinter, Director of the Ministry of Economy's Asia and Africa Division, believes that the high level of interest from Chinese companies is linked to Beijing's "Go Global" foreign trade and investment campaign, but points out that most trade missions and company visits tend to be from specific provinces or regions in China. Director General Vass believes that economic forces are more of a driver of Chinese company actions than overarching coordination from the central government in Beijing. BUDAPEST 00000380 002.2 OF 004 HUNGARY AS CHINA'S GATEWAY TO EUROPE ¶6. (SBU) Hungary is actively marketing itself to potential Chinese investors as a "gateway" to Central and Eastern Europe, making the case that through Hungary, Chinese investors and exporters can serve the Central European market, including non-EU members like Ukraine and the Balkans, as well as Hungary's developed neighbors like Austria. Increasing economic ties with China was a priority of former Prime Minister Gyurscany. In addition to a number of senior level visits, Gyurscany created a position within his office to manage Hungarian-Chinese economic relations, filled by Andras Huszty, who continues in this role in the current government. In addition, former Finance Minister Janos Veres has just been appointed to a relatively undefined position responsible for "Eastern relations," which will include relations with Ukraine, Russia and China. ¶7. (U) In marketing Hungary to the Chinese, GOH officials point to the fact that Hungary's Chinese population is the largest in the region - large enough to support eight Chinese language newspapers and other publications, as well as a bilingual Hungarian-Chinese school. (Note: There are no reliable statistics available on the number of Chinese citizens living in Hungary, although the Chinese Embassy Political Counselor told an Embassy Officer they estimate the number to be around 20,000. Newspapers also report the number to be in the "tens of thousands." End note.) Hungarian investment promotion officials also market Hungary as China's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, making the country well-positioned to help Chinese companies enter and expand elsewhere into the European market. ¶8. (SBU) ITDH's Henter noted the distance from China often causes Chinese companies to look for local partners or joint venture opportunities as opposed to pursuing greenfield investments (although Director General Vass from the Economy Ministry notes that Chinese involvement in greenfield investments is also growing). Recently released M&A statistics show that Chinese companies ranked second in terms of the number of M&A deals in 2008, with 1,209, although many of these likely involved very small Chinese companies (see below). (Note: The U.S. ranked fifth with 526 M&A transactions. End note). ¶9. (SBU) Ministry of Economy State Secretary Laszlo Varju notes that Hungary is also seeking to become a tourist destination for Chinese vacationers, a goal facilitated by Hainan Airline's direct flights between Beijing and Budapest. Hungary's tourism association estimates that in 2008, 32,000 Chinese tourists spent 63,000 nights at commercial lodgings in Hungary, an increase of 13 percent over the previous year. ¶10. (SBU) Varju also spoke of growing technological and scientific cooperation between Hungary and China, citing as examples relationships between the Budapest and Miskolc Universities of Technical Sciences with Shenzhen University, as well as a joint Hungarian-Chinese research lab at Hungary's Eotvos Lorand University. USFCS also reports ongoing Hungarian-Chinese research cooperation at the Miskolc nanotechnology research center, as well as ongoing biotech research cooperation in Szeged. IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS ¶11. (SBU) Despite the global economic crisis, delegations of Chinese companies continue to visit Hungary "on a monthly basis." In the last six weeks alone, Hungary hosted a "China High Tech Fair" (featuring 60 companies from Shenzhen),a "China Brands Business Forum," and a trade mission comprised of 42 Chinese companies focusing on the alternative energy, components and ICT industries. This month, the Chinese government is also sponsoring a visit to China of Hungarian companies and trade and investment promotion officials. Despite this high level of activity, however, Vass notes that the global economic crisis is having an impact on potential Chinese investors in two ways. First, planned investment projects have been postponed as companies adopt a "wait and BUDAPEST 00000380 003.2 OF 004 see" approach, waiting for the economic situation to improve before proceeding with significant investments. Second, Vass notes shrinking global export markets has caused many Chinese companies to once again view Hungary primarily as a destination for finished Chinese exports. ¶12. (U) In addition, like other firms in Hungary, Chinese manufacturers in Hungary are coping with falling demand resulting from the global downturn. Chinese company Hisense announced in January it is shutting down its LCD assembly unit in Hungary, while maintaining its sales, financial and repair center. CHINESE COMPANIES IN HUNGARY ¶13. (U) There are an estimated 5,000 Chinese-owned businesses operating in Hungary, although all but a few are small businesses - mainly restaurants, clothing stores, and small grocery stores. In addition to Hisense, major Chinese manufacturers present here include telecom companies Huawei and ZTE; and electronics companies Lenovo, Panda Electronics Group, TCL, Skyworth, and Xoceco (Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronic Co). Bank of China maintains its only branch in Central Europe in Hungary, helping to finance Chinese companies in the region. ¶14. (U) The "China Brand Trade Center" (CBTC) project in Budapest (reftel),announced during former Prime Minister Gyurcsany's 2007 visit to China, continues to develop slowly. The project is located within and adjacent to the existing "Asia Center" retail and wholesale trade outlet. Although advertised to provide office and showroom space for up to 600 Chinese firms looking to market their brands to the European market, CBTC Sales Director Klara Zombory notes that the center has initial capacity for about 350 companies. Zombory told us that a "roadshow" is underway in China to recruit companies to join the CBTC, and tha recruitment efforts are headed by a former official from the Chinese Embassy to Budapest. The CBTC plans to open once it has 100 companies in place, which Zombory expects will occur within 6-12 months. ¶15. (SBU) Vass admitted that interest on the part of Chinese companies to establish a presence in the CBTC is below expectations. He suspects that many companies may not feel it is desirable to have offices and showrooms co-located with direct competitors. CBTC's Zombory also notes that there is a challenge overcoming Hungarian perceptions that Chinese products are of poor quality, a perception she believes is perpetuated by the large number of inexpensive Chinese clothing shops here. MAJOR PROJECTS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT ¶16. (SBU) A large project currently under development that has attracted Chinese investment interest is the "Zahony Development Project," which involves an intermodal logistics center, an industrial park network, and a "standard to wide-guage railway interchange" at Hungary's Schengen border with Ukraine. Hungarian government officials indicate that Chinese investors are interested in setting up an industrial park for Chinese companies at this site. The major advantage of this project is the link to the so-called "Europe-Far East Land Bridge," which seeks to offer a cheaper alternative to ocean transport for cargo shipments from China to Central Europe, by utilizing the China railway, the Transsiberian Railway, and the European rail network. Project developers boast that the network can cut transit times in half as compared to ocean routes from China to Europe, at significantly reduced costs. The project requires the transferring of containers from a standard gauge to a wide gauge railway car at the Chinese/Russian broker, and back again at the border between Ukraine and Hungary. The project developers note they have secured special customs and tariff arrangements to allow "block trains" to move in both directions non-stop. The project is supported by the GOH as part of its national development plan, and receives EU funding for infrastructure development. ¶17. (SBU) Another major project is the development of a cargo airport and industrial park near the Western Hungarian town BUDAPEST 00000380 004.2 OF 004 of Szombathely, approximately 8 miles from the Austrian border. Runways totaling 3.5 kilometers are planned for the airport, which would have direct access to Austrian and Hungarian rail lines. Raytheon is currently exploring possible involvement in the project, known as "SIA-Port." The project is expected to be completed within the next five years, and is likely to include an industrial park dedicated for Chinese companies. ITDH's Henter noted that unlike exporters, Chinese manufacturing companies tend to prefer to be co-located with other Chinese companies, allowing for the sharing of services and the development of sub-supplier relationships. COMMENT ¶18. (C) For years, the Chinese commercial presence in Hungary was equated with Chinese fast food outlets, individually-owned shops selling inexpensive Chinese clothing, and stands in crowded flea markets. Although all are still present here, Hungary's commercial relationship with China has evolved considerably, and China is now both a major trading partner and a highly-sought foreign investor. Economy Ministry Director General Vass pointed out that Chinese companies are "good investment partners," and that there have been "no labor problems" associated with Chinese owned factories in Hungary. As long as the global downturn continues to shrink traditional Chinese export markets, we expect that Chinese companies will continue to aggressively seek new export opportunities in Hungary. If this strategy involves direct investment and some local job creation, the Hungarians will likely be eager supporters. Levine