Chinese ambassador visits BYD plant under construction in Szeged

Szeged City Hall with flags displayed (left to right) for the European Union, the City of Szeged, China, and Hungary. Photo: Szilvia Molnar / Szegedify

The Chinese ambassador to Hungary visited Szeged, where he first met with the city's mayor at BYD’s Szeged headquarters, and then together they reviewed the progress of the project’s implementation, reported the municipal news outlet szeged.hu.

László Botka, the mayor of Szeged, and Gong Tao, the Chinese ambassador to Hungary, first attended a closed presentation where a BYD representative outlined key details of the factory’s construction. Also present were Szeged’s deputy mayors—József Binszki, Tamás Kovács, and Sándor Nagy—as well as Sándor Szabó, Szeged’s MSZP member of parliament, and László Salgó, the county commissioner of Csongrád-Csanád County.

After reviewing the plans, the delegations proceeded to the construction site, where Botka emphasized that the city had met all obligations and commitments related to the factory construction on schedule. The municipality is transferring the 300-hectare site to BYD in three phases. Most recently, Szeged handed over a 161-hectare section, and by year’s end, the final 15-hectare portion will also be transferred to the automaker.

The mayor also highlighted that four large halls are under construction, each positioned as far as possible from the Liliomkert residential area in Szeged’s Béketelep district. The delegation first visited the main assembly hall, set to become the largest building in Szeged by footprint, spanning 167,000 square meters. László Botka and Gong Tao then also visited the construction sites of the painting facility and the final assembly plant. After inspecting the construction site, the mayor of Szeged and the ambassador also held a meeting at the City Hall, which was followed by a working lunch.

During his stay in Szeged, the ambassador also visited the Déri Miksa Technical School of the Szeged Vocational Training Center and the University of Szeged. Media invitations to the ambassador's events were limited to the municipal outlet Szeged.hu and the pro-government newspaper Délmagyar.hu.