China’s Fudan University to Set Up Campus in Budapest, Triggering Security Concerns

A Fudan University sign is seen on the campus in Shanghai, China, on Dec. 18, 2019. HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images

News Analysis

Hungary signed an agreement with Fudan University on April 27 to set up a campus in its capital city of Budapest. This will be Fudan’s only overseas campus and another Chinese university to establish a campus in Europe, following Beijing University in 2018 in the UK and Shanghai’s Tongji University in Italy in 2014. However, the joint initiative has raised security concerns among Hungarian lawmakers.

The New Campus Is Based on the BRI Investment Model

According to “official government documents” obtained in April by Hungarian media Direkt36, the Hungarian government plans to work with a major Chinese construction company to construct Fudan University’s new campus in Budapest. The construction is expected to be completed in 2024. Fudan University is based in Shanghai.