Huawei underscores its commitment to French tech market
ANN/CHINA DAILY – China’s technology giant Huawei Technologies is committed to the French market despite challenges posed by an increasingly complex global geopolitical situation.
Huawei Technologies France, launched in 2003, commenced construction on its factory project for mobile phone network equipment in France’s Alsace region in April 2023.
With an investment of EUR200 million (USD214 million), it will be Huawei’s first factory in Europe and its largest manufacturing facility outside China. Huawei Technologies France also boasts five R&D centres, an innovation centre and a mathematics research centre dedicated to basic research. Of its 1,100 employees, 80 per cent are locally hired.
Deputy CEO of Huawei Technologies France Zhang Minggang said that for Huawei, France and Europe are more than just important markets, they possess a sound industrial foundation, strong innovation capabilities, rich culture, and are host to numerous international standard organisations.
“On the one hand, Huawei hopes to create value for France through its activities and investment here. On the other hand, Huawei also hopes to take deeper root in France and Europe through its activities in France,” Zhang said. Huawei Technologies France contributes more than EUR1 billion to the French economy each year and has created 9,760 jobs, both directly and indirectly.
If the related business revenues of Huawei suppliers and partners are also included, the annual business volume would amount to EUR2.5 billion and total tax to the government coffer would be EUR265 million, including EUR65 million in tax paid directly by Huawei.
Zhang was proud that Huawei Technologies France has been recognised by local citizens, parliamentarians and local government officials for its good corporate citizenship.
Launched in 2021, the Huawei DigiTruck programme offers a mobile classroom equipped with 20 computers, housed in a truck powered by solar energy. It offers workshops aimed at helping locals fight digital illiteracy.
According to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in June 2023, about 15.4 percent of the French population are struggling with digital technology or are unable to use IT tools.
Now in the sixth stage of its journey, the DigiTruck has been traveling since March on a four-month route.
The DigiTruck programme has so far welcomed some 6,000 people in more than 40 French cities. Two-thirds of the attendees are people over age 55.
Zhang said local mayors and officials in France have shown great support and enthusiasm for the DigiTruck, assisting in promoting the programme and organising training for local individuals in need.
“Digital technology is a powerful vector for social and professional integration. Present in France for more than 20 years, Huawei wishes to assume its responsibilities as a major digital player and promote the mastery of IT tools to as many people as possible,” Zhang said.
Zhang admitted that the fearmongering by the European Commission, branding Huawei as an unreliable vendor, had hurt the company.
He said facts speak louder, and various evaluations have shown that there is no cybersecurity issue or technical problem with Huawei 5G.
He added that he was encouraged by good news received in April, when Huawei Cloud announced its compliance with the EU Cloud Code of Conduct for its cloud services dedicated to the European market, regarded as a demonstration of Huawei Cloud’s commitment to privacy, data security and transparency.
McLaren’s Norris wins Miami Grand Prix for maiden F1 win
MIAMI GARDENS (AFP) – McLaren’s Lando Norris won the first Formula One race of his career with a shock victory over world champion Max Verstappen in the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
Breathing life into an F1 season that risked becoming a one-man story again, Norris, in his 110th race for McLaren, beat Verstappen by over seven seconds with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finishing third.
Verstappen, who began on pole, had won four of the opening five races of the season and leads the world championship standings.
It looked like business as usual with the Dutchman, who had won the previous two Miami races, leading until lap 24 when he pitted and Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri took over the lead.
Australian Piastri himself went into the pits four laps later, allowing Norris to grab the lead and the British driver never looked back.
Crucially, Norris was able to pit during a safety car on lap 30, earning him a valuable time advantage which he never relinquished.
The safety car came after Kevin Magnussen clipped Logan Sargeant, sending the American Williams driver into the wall, bringing a yellow flag.
Norris, who had 15 podiums before his first win, took full advantage of the safety car and with Verstappen struggling to catch up, he secured his maiden victory.
It was the first time Verstappen has been beaten on track, when he finished the race, since Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won in Singapore in September last year.
Norris was hoisted in the air by the McLaren mechanics as his long wait for a victory in the sport came to an end.
“About time huh?” said Norris, “I knew on Friday that we had the pace…today we managed to put it together. We had the perfect strategy, it all paid off,” he added.
“I guess a lot of people doubted me along the way. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the last five years, my short career, but today we pulled it all together, so this is all for the team.
“I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them and I did believe in them and today proved exactly that,” he added.
The nearest Norris had come previously to winning a Grand Prix was in Sochi, Russia in 2021 when he led in the latter stages before failing to make a tyre change early in rain, costing him dearly.
Verstappen, who had complained about lack of grip in qualification and during Sunday’s race, said his Red Bull had been unable to keep up with Norris once the McLaren driver switched to hard tyres.
“They just had more pace, Lando was flying. It was incredibly difficult for us, but on the bad days P2, I’ll take it right?
“I’m very happy for Lando, its been a long time coming and it’s not going to be his last one. He definitely deserves it,” said the Dutchman.
Leclerc echoed those sentiments.
“Very often he ran very close it but for one reason or another he didn’t make it. But today he did an incredible job and the whole weekend he has been on it,” said the Ferrari driver.
Sainz finished fourth with Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in fifth place but the pair swapped places after stewards imposed a post-race penalty of five seconds on the Spaniard for his collision with Piastri.
Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished sixth and eighth with RB’s Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda ending seventh.
As in the first two years of the Miami Grand Prix, held around Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, the race attracted plenty of celebrities.
Former France international footballer and coach Zinedine Zidane, singer Ed Sheeran, Super Bowl winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes and former US President Donald Trump were among those spotted at the race. Trump visited the McLaren garage before the race.
Malaysia’s Agong in Singapore for state visit
SINGAPORE (ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES) – Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, the King of Malaysia, was warmly greeted with ceremonial honours at the Istana as he commenced his two-day official visit to Singapore on Monday (May 6).
Accompanied by his wife, Raja Zarith Sofiah, the royal couple arrived at 10.45 am and were welcomed by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam.
Among the dignitaries accompanying the Sultan were Malaysian Minister of Transport Anthony Loke, Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Azfar Mohamad Mustafar, and other esteemed officials.
After the welcome ceremony, the King had a meeting with Cabinet ministers, who included Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli.
This marks Sultan Ibrahim’s first overseas state visit since he was sworn in as Malaysia’s 17th King – or Yang di-Pertuan Agong – on January 31. It is also one of the last major visits before Singapore’s leadership transition on May 15, when PM Lee will hand over to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
DPM Wong, who is also Finance Minister, is expected to call on the King on Tuesday and host him for breakfast. The King will then be hosted by Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng on a visit to Parliament House, where he will observe parliamentary proceedings.
On May 7, the King is also scheduled to visit the Thomson-East Coast Line and to inspect the progress of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link at Woodlands North terminus.
Sultan Ibrahim’s state visit comes ahead of the centennial of the Causeway – which was officially opened on June 28, 1924 – between Johor Bahru and Singapore.
‘Where can we go?’ say Rafah residents as Israel demands evacuation
RAFAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (AFP) – Palestinian civilians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah voiced despair on Monday as Israel dropped fliers urging them to evacuate for their own “safety” ahead of a “limited” military operation.
Israel’s army said it was instructing Palestinian families in eastern Rafah to flee in preparation for an expected ground assault on the city which abuts Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Residents of Rafah described emerging outside after a terrifying night in which around a dozen air strikes were carried out on Rafah, to find fliers falling from the sky telling them to “evacuate immediately”.
“The army is working with intensive power against the terrorist forces near you,” read a flier circulated in eastern Rafah.
“For your safety, the IDF (Israeli military) tells you to evacuate immediately towards the expanded humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi,” it said, with a map indicating the location to the north of Rafah.
Osama Al-Kahlout, of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza, told AFP that the areas designated for evacuation currently shelter some 250,000 people, many of whom have already been displaced from other areas in the Gaza Strip.
“The evacuation process has begun on the ground, but in a limited manner,” he said.
An Israeli military spokesman, when asked how many people should move, said: “The estimate is around 100,000 people.”
About 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization, most having fled there during the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants.
Amid pouring rain, some of those sheltering in Rafah said they had begun packing up their things from the densely packed tents and preparing to leave even before Israel’s directive arrived.
“Whatever happens, my tent is ready,” a resident told AFP.
But others said the area they were being told to flee to was already overcrowded, and they did not trust that it would be safe.
Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar, 36, said he and 12 family members were in the designated evacuation area.
Jazar and his family did not know what to do, he said, because the “humanitarian zone” they were told to head for “does not have enough room for us to make tents because they are (already) full of displaced people”.
“Where can we go? We do not know,” he told AFP.
“There are also no hospitals and it is far from any services many need,” he said, adding that one of his family members relied on dialysis at the Al-Najar hospital, in the area of Rafah instructed to evacuate.
“How will we deal with her after that? Should we watch her die without being able to do anything?”
An Israeli military spokesman told reporters that the evacuation “is part of our plans to dismantle Hamas … we had a violent reminder of their presence and their operational abilities in Rafah yesterday”.
On Sunday, four Israeli soldiers were killed and others wounded, the army said, when a barrage of rockets was fired towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
The army said the rockets were fired from an area adjacent to Rafah.
International aid organisations have voiced alarm at the expected invasion of Rafah.
“From the humanitarian perspective, no credible humanitarian plan for an attack on Rafah exists,” said Bushra Khalidi, advocacy director for Oxfam in the Palestinian territories.
She said she could “not fathom that Rafah will happen”, asking where displaced Palestinians will go “when most of their surroundings have been reduced to death and rubble?”
Mbappe, PSG aim to seize moment in Champions League semi-final
PARIS (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are bidding to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and beat Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League semi-final return match on Tuesday night (Wednesday 3am Brunei time), with the aim of bringing the curtain down on the Kylian Mbappe era at the club in the final at Wembley.
The only time PSG have previously appeared in the biggest match in club football turned out to be a depressingly flat occasion, with the French side losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich behind closed doors in Lisbon in 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
Reaching the June 1 showpiece in London, and playing before a crowd of 90,000 against either Real Madrid or Bayern again, would be a different occasion entirely.
Getting there would give Mbappe the chance to end his seven-year stay with the Qatar-owned outfit in the best possible way, as they look to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, and just the second time for a French club after Marseille in 1993.
Mbappe informed PSG in February of his intention to depart the Parc des Princes when his contract expires at the end of the season, ending a prolific association with his hometown team which began when he signed from Monaco in 2017.
Now 25 and the captain of France, Mbappe has become the Parisians’ all-time top scorer with 255 goals in 305 appearances so far, including 43 this season alone.
He has 48 in the Champions League – a tally which includes six with Monaco in his breakthrough 2016/17 campaign – and Tuesday’s second leg against Dortmund would be the ideal time for him to bring up the half-century.
Luis Enrique’s team did not produce their best performance in losing 1-0 in Germany last week, and the pressure is on them as favourites to turn the tie around at home.
However, a repeat of what happened when they hosted Dortmund in the group stage last September will suffice – on that occasion they won 2-0, with Mbappe netting the first goal from the penalty spot.
“We are sure we are going to turn it around and qualify for the final,” Mbappe told several media including AFP on Sunday on the sidelines of an event on the French capital’s famed Champs-Elysees.
“There is a lot of pressure on us, which is normal because there is a place in the Champions League final at stake.
“All the more so when you know about this club’s past in the competition.”
PSG were not necessarily expected to get as far as the semi-finals this season, with the squad undergoing a major overhaul following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar at the end of the last campaign.
They had gone out in the last 16 in five of the last seven seasons, frequently failing in spectacular fashion in that time.
Before this season, and since the Qatari takeover of the club in 2011, PSG had won nine Champions League knockout ties in total.
Five of those came behind closed doors in the COVID era, including two ties played as one-off games on neutral turf in Lisbon in 2020.
This season’s draw has been as kind as it could be, with Real Sociedad ideal opponents in the last 16 and Dortmund the best they could have wished for in the semi-finals.
However, their performance in overturning a first-leg deficit to defeat Barcelona in the last eight is not to be dismissed.
While all eyes will, as usual, be on Mbappe, the key to PSG’s chances of recovering from another first-leg loss when they face Dortmund may be in defence.
They suffered a huge blow when Lucas Hernandez ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while trying to stop Niclas Fuellkrug’s goal in Dortmund. He is set to be out for many months.
In addition, left-back Nuno Mendes, who has himself not long returned from a lengthy spell out, had a torrid time up against Jadon Sancho at the Signal Iduna Park.
Mendes will still almost certainly start at the Parc des Princes, while Danilo Pereira looks the most likely option to partner skipper Marquinhos at centre-back.
“We know how strong we are at the Parc. Nothing is finished, everything is open,” Marquinhos said after the first leg.
One other factor in favour of PSG, who have already wrapped up the French title, might be freshness – their weekend league game at Nice was postponed to help them prepare.
Philippine defence opposes China’s Ayungin Shoal claim
MANILA (ANN/PDI) – Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr on Sunday rejected China’s assertion of a “new model” for Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
An unnamed Chinese embassy spokesperson claimed on Saturday that officials in the Department of National Defence and the National Security Advisor had approved a “new model” to manage tensions at the shoal, where a Philippine navy outpost is situated.
Teodoro called this claim a “devious machination” and criticised its timing, coming just after the condemnation of China’s actions in a recent SQUAD meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. This tension escalated after the China Coast Guard used water cannons against a Philippine vessel in Ayungin Shoal on March 23, resulting in serious injuries to three Navy personnel, and was condemned by United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin III. The rotation and resupply mission of the Philippines in the BRP Sierra Madre, a Navy ship grounded in Ayungin Shoal since 1999, has become a major point of contention between Manila and Beijing.
Panatag pact
On Thursday, the Chinese embassy claimed that there was also a “temporary special agreement” with Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal between Manila and Beijing.
Under the purported agreement on Panatag Shoal, Filipino fishermen could fish with small fishing boats while the PCG, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other Philippine government vessels and aircraft were barred from entering the 12 nautical miles and corresponding air space of the sandbank.
Beijing asserts sovereignty in the entire South China Sea — including most of the West Philippine Sea — despite the July 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling that effectively invalidated its claims based on a case filed by Manila in 2013.
This landmark decision also included Panatag Shoal, which was declared a traditional fishing ground that should be shared by the Philippines, China, and Vietnam.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, promptly denied China’s claim.
China’s ‘methods of manipulation’
“Let us not be influenced by their fabricated stories once again, which aim to confuse the Filipino people and divert the public discourse from the real issue of their harassment and provocative actions in Bajo De Masinloc,” Tarriela said.
Teodoro also enjoined the public to be careful in heeding what he deemed as China’s “methods of manipulation.”
“I am issuing this statement to generate awareness on this clear attempt by China to advance another falsehood in order to divide our people and distract us from their unlawful presence and actions in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” he said.
“We advise our citizens, the media, and the international community to beware of China’s methods of manipulation, interference, and malign influence in furthering its own interests,” he added.
Indonesia 1Q growth boosted by election, holiday spending
JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia’s economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of 2024 on the back of election and religious holiday spending, official data showed Monday.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy expanded 5.11 per cent, Statistics Indonesia said, the highest level for three quarters and slightly higher than the 5.04 per cent expansion in the same period last year.
The economy was boosted by government spending ahead of the country’s presidential election in February and household spending in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr in April, acting Statistics Indonesia head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said.
“Household consumption is still the biggest source of the growth in terms of spending,” she told a press conference.
Government estimates had projected growth of 5.17 per cent but experts warned Jakarta’s official data might not be reliable to judge economic performance.
“We don’t have much faith in the official data. The Indonesia Activity Tracker suggests that although the economy has staged a recovery in recent months, growth is still below what official figures suggest,” said Gareth Leather, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics.
“We think the economy is set to struggle over the coming quarters as high-interest rates… weigh on demand. We expect GDP growth on our measure to be around 4.5 per cent this year.”
Economists previously warned of a slowdown in growth in the coming months as officials tighten monetary policy and commodity demand continues to weaken.
Indonesia’s central bank last month announced a surprise interest rate hike to 6.25 per cent, their highest for seven years, to support the rupiah, which had weakened against the dollar.
Asian shares rise on Wall St’s strong rally
NEW YORK (AP) – Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday after Wall Street ended last week with the stock market’s best day in over two months in a rally backed by the cooler-than-expected US employment data.
US futures edged higher and oil prices rose.
The Japanese yen weakened slightly after its value swung from a low of JPY160.25 to the US dollar to JPY151.86 late last week following suspected government intervention. The dollar bought JPY153.93, up from JPY152.90.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a gathering at the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting Friday, held in Tiblisi, Georgia, that rapid fluctuations were hurting households and businesses.
The euro rose to USD1.0765 from USD1.0763.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2 per cent to 18,447.12 while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.9 per cent to 3,133.92 as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday. A private sector survey Monday showed the country’s services sector grew at a slower pace in April due to rising costs although new orders rose and business sentiment improved.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent to 7,669.50. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.2 per cent.
Japan and South Korea’s markets were closed for holidays.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 1.3 per cent to 5,127.79, its best day since late February. The benchmark index also erased its losses for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 per cent to 38,675.68. The Nasdaq composite ended 2 per cent higher and closed at 16,156.33, reflecting strong gains by technology sector stocks, which accounted for much of the rally.
The nation’s employers added 175,000 jobs last month, down sharply from the blockbuster increase of 315,000 in March, according to the Labour Department. The latest hiring tally came in well below the 233,000 gain that economists had predicted. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings, a key driver of inflation, rose less than expected.
The modest increase in hiring last month suggests the Federal Reserve’s aggressive streak of rate hikes may be finally starting to take a bigger toll on the world’s largest economy. That may help reassure the Fed that inflation will ease further, which could move the central bank closer to lowering interest rates.
Friday’s market rally was widespread, though technology stocks powered much of the gains. Apple jumped 6 per cent after announcing a mammoth USD110 billion stock buyback. The tech giant reported late Thursday its steepest quarterly decline in iPhone sales since the outset of the pandemic.
Microsoft rose 2.2 per cent and Nvidia added 3.5 per cent.
Several companies notched gains after reporting strong quarterly results.
Amgen climbed 11.8 per cent after the biotechnology company gave investors an encouraging update on a potential obesity drug. Live Nation Entertainment added 7.2 per cent after the ticket seller and concert promoter beat analysts’ first-quarter revenue forecasts.
Motorola Solutions closed 5.2 per cent higher after the communications equipment maker raised its profit forecast for the year.
Booking Holdings rose 3 per cent after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter bookings and revenue. Another online travel company, Expedia Group, didn’t fare as well, despite its latest quarterly results beating Wall Street targets. Its shares slumped 15.3 per cent for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks after it lowered its full-year bookings guidance because its Vrbo rental unit has been slow to recover from its migration to Expedia’s platform.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 23 cents to USD78.34 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 18 cents to USD83.14 a barrel.
Xi Jinping’s Europe tour spotlights China’s influence
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend the bulk of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries at the continent’s eastern half, a region that Beijing has used as a foothold for its expanding economic ambitions in Europe.
Following a stop in Paris on Monday to kick off his first European trip in five years, Xi will then travel to Hungary and Serbia, two nations with autocratic leaders that are seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit Beijing and Moscow’s reach on the continent, the governments of nationalist conservative leaders Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia have vigorously courted economic ties with China, inviting major investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and technology.
As the first European Union country to participate in Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, Hungary has straddled a middle ground between its membership in the EU and NATO, and an unusual openness to diplomatic and trade relationships with eastern autocracies.
Tamás Matura, a China expert and associate professor at Corvinus University in Budapest, said that Hungary’s hosting of major Chinese investments and production sites — and its agnosticism on doing business with countries with spotty democratic and human rights records — has opened a crucial door to China within the EU trading bloc.
“The Hungarian government is the last true friend of China in the whole EU,” Matura said. “It is very important now to the Chinese to settle down in a country that is within the boundaries of the EU…and is friendly to the Chinese political system.”
One of the major benefits to China of establishing bases within the EU: avoiding costly tariffs. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is mulling raising duties on the import of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) from its current 10 per cent to protect the European auto manufacturing market — a mainstay for Germany, the 27-member EU’s largest economy.
Yet in December, Hungary announced that one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, China’s BYD, will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country — an inroad into the EU that could upend the competitiveness of the continent’s auto industry.
That shift is already visible in Budapest, where one car dealership has begun scaling down its supply of European vehicles and instead introducing models produced by BYD.
Márk Schiller, the strategy and marketing director for the family-owned Schiller Auto Group, said he believes that European carmakers are “already behind” China in transitioning to EV production. His company recently stopped selling cars made by German carmaker Opel, and switched to BYD.
“This was a huge shift,” Schiller said.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that during Xi’s visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday, he and Orbán will announce another EV manufacturing investment involving China’s Great Wall Motor. Orbán’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests for information on the schedule of the visit.
In Serbia, to Hungary’s south, China runs mines and factories across the Balkan country, while billions more in infrastructure loans have funded roads, bridges and new facilities.
Hungary and Serbia have an agreement with Beijing to modernise the railway between the countries’ capitals of Budapest and Belgrade, part of a Belt and Road plan to connect with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.
The bulk of the project, which after numerous delays is expected to be completed in 2026, is financed through loans from Chinese banks — the kind of capital that Hungary and Serbia have been eager to utilise.
According to the AidData research lab at William & Mary, a public university in Virginia, Chinese lenders have issued loans worth more than USD22 billion to nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2021.
Of that sum, USD9.4 billion has gone to Hungary and USD5.7 billion to Serbia, dwarfing the totals of other regional countries.
Vučić has said he is “honoured” that Xi — whom he often describes as a “friend” — is visiting on Tuesday. He said before the visit that Serbia would seek further Chinese investment, particularly when it comes to advanced technologies.
But economic analyst Mijat Lakićević said he didn’t expect any major new investment deals, because “everything that Serbia does with China has already been agreed.”
Hungary, too, has created a favorable investment environment for China, providing generous tax breaks, subsidies and infrastructural assistance to Chinese companies, as well as helping them navigate Hungarian bureaucracy.
“They get the red carpets rolled out and they get everything tailor-made by the government. And that is a huge advantage,” said Matura, the China analyst.
Near Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, construction is underway of a nearly 550-acre (222-hectare), EUR7.3 billion euro EV battery plant, Hungary’s largest-ever foreign direct investment.
Orbán’s government hopes the factory, run by Chinese battery giant CATL, will make the country a global hub of lithium-ion battery manufacturing in an era where governments are increasingly seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions by switching to electric cars.
Such investments are coming at a time when Hungary’s sluggish economy has been further hindered by record-setting inflation and the freezing of billions in EU funding that has been withheld over Orbán’s track record on democracy standards and the rule of law.
With EU money at a standstill, Matura said, China has been willing to fill in the gaps in Hungary’s budget.
“EU funds have almost came to full stop flowing into the Hungarian economy, so now there is a desperate need in Hungary to turn towards other alternatives, other sources of financial capital,” he said.
Orbán has been open about why he has prioritised Chinese investment: his belief that Western economies are declining, and that China is on the rise.
During a recent speech at the CPAC Hungary conservative conference, Orbán outlined a vision of a “global economy that will be organised according to the principle of mutual benefit, free of ideology.”
