Factories from China spark geopolitical debates in Europe

euronews (in English)

Chinese companies are investing massively in Hungary.

Transcript

00:00Wow, there's quite a lot going on here.

00:03Everywhere in Europe, battery factories are being built for electric cars.

00:08In order to stop climate change, no more fossil fuels should be burned.

00:12The scientists are clearly in agreement.

00:14The future belongs to the electric car.

00:21The carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases remains in the atmosphere and thus strengthens the greenhouse effect.

00:26The earth continues to heat up.

00:29Therefore, from 2035, no more new cars with combustion engines are allowed to be sold in the European Union.

00:36Even if the combustion lobby is still trying to change this decision, it has been unsuccessful so far.

00:42The electric cars are coming soon.

00:44But many millions of electric cars need many millions of large batteries.

00:50So far, the world market for batteries is dominated by China.

00:53In order to avoid a complete dependence on China, Europe is trying to massively expand its battery production.

01:00Gigantic factories are being built all over the continent.

01:03By 2030, there could be a production capacity of 1.7 terawatt hours in Europe.

01:10This could mean toasting 68 billion slices of bread or seeing non-stop Euro news for two million years.

01:18Since 2024, the new battery regulation applies to all member states of the EU.

01:23The goal is a real circular economy.

01:26More and more valuable raw materials are being taken out of the old batteries and reused.

01:32In 2027, batteries receive a QR code.

01:36This digital battery pass informs about reusable critical raw materials.

01:42With over 2 billion Euro subsidies, Hungary is trying to get battery factories into the country.

01:50Hungary is rolling out the red carpet.

01:52Chinese electric cars and Chinese batteries will soon be produced here in Hungary.

01:57Geopolitically, this could be a risky strategy.

02:00On the outskirts of Hungary's second largest city, Debrecen, the largest battery factory in Europe will soon take over production.

02:12The Chinese world market leader CATL is investing over 7 billion Euro here.

02:17And the government in Budapest is spending 800 million Euro on subsidies.

02:23Hungary is getting battery factories for electric cars into the country with massive state aid.

02:29Now Chinese investors are also coming.

02:31What do the people here in Debrecen think about it?

02:33I'll hear about it.

02:36The factory is splitting the city.

02:38At a press conference, I get to know Martin Fayez.

02:41The photographer thinks the investment is good.

02:43Today, he is taking photos of Jason Chen, the European leader of the Chinese battery giant.

02:47Chen rarely gives interviews.

02:49For Euro news, he is making an exception.

02:59The majority job created is for local people.

03:03By the end of next year, probably there will be 2,000 people.

03:07Battery production needs a lot of water.

03:10So how do you handle this problem about water consumption in a country which is drying out?

03:16We have developed a water saving technology for the cooling tower.

03:21And also we agree to use the grey water, so a lot of water will be saved.

03:27Many people used to emigrate.

03:29But a lot has changed since the 100th anniversary.

03:32That's why people like Martin are happy about investors, no matter where they come from.

03:36In the last 20 years, a lot of new jobs have been created.

03:41Thanks to this, young people who study here can stay here.

03:45And those who left Debrecen can come back to these jobs.

03:49Laszlo is not satisfied. He is angry.

03:59He grows cabbage, onions, beans and peppers on his 4 hectare field.

04:04This is the end. The industrial park needs space. The family has to leave.

04:09The future is hopeless for them.

04:12We are almost depressed because of this.

04:16We are living from a pesticide-free agriculture.

04:19And the factories are polluting a lot.

04:22So we will not produce for the future.

04:28Laszlo's mother greets Eva Kosma in the kitchen.

04:31Eva heads a neighborhood association, which pays attention to the environmental risks of battery production.

04:37Nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium, organic solvents such as NMP,

04:43these have to be filled up.

04:46Everyone will get sick here. We have to move.

04:49So we are quite depressed.

04:52And this incompetence, I feel it.

05:00Eva takes me to the community center.

05:03Together with a member of the association Vera, she manufactures protesters for the Christmas market.

05:08Both have three children and are worried about their future.

05:12We are afraid that there will not be enough water.

05:16Because these factories use huge amounts of water.

05:21Only in the first phase of CETL will there be 47 chemicals.

05:26And NMP will come out of three, which is a pest control.

05:33No combustion engines, no electric cars.

05:36This is a challenge for the European Union.

05:39Just because of the battery technology.

05:42In the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, I have an appointment with Andrea Eltetö.

05:46She sees Chinese battery investments in Europe as critical.

05:51Yes, everywhere in Europe, battery factories are created.

05:54Also in Hungary. I have talked to many Hungarians.

05:57They also have questions about CETL.

06:00Good afternoon.

06:02First question from the ground.

06:04Why does Hungary need CETL when there is no water, no energy, no fuel?

06:13The government proposes for Hungary to be a giant superpower of battery making.

06:19I think it's mainly a political decision.

06:22So it's beyond economic rationality.

06:25We are in a green transition.

06:28We are in a green transition.

06:30We are looking for electric vehicles and we need batteries.

06:33So is this good news or bad news, this Chinese investment?

06:37So the problem is the very high quantity of state aid the Hungarian government provides to these companies.

06:44Around 2 billion euros.

06:46And at the same time there is no money for health care, education or railway.

06:52Hungary is still depending on Russian oil and Russian gas.

06:56And we are building up here in Hungary an industry which is consuming a lot of energy.

07:01Isn't there a kind of geopolitical risk?

07:04This whole industry would need one quarter of the whole electricity consumption of Hungary.

07:11So Hungary now creates a kind of multiple dependence.

07:15Because regarding the energy, it depends from Russia.

07:19And with these lots of Chinese factories, the dependence from China is also taking place.

07:25The Hungarian government wants to be a kind of global player in this geopolitical game.

07:30But for Hungary it doesn't mean a larger independence, but it means a more deeper dependence.

07:38Even today, China uses its trading power as a means of pressure.

07:42Companies have been instructed to invest only in such EU countries

07:46which reject protection fees against Chinese cheap imports.

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