The European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) has awarded a study on Chinese investments in non-maritime infrastructure in Europe and analysed potential risks. The study, which analysed investments in Germany, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, and Turkey, came to the conclusion that many of the risks could be mitigated through better monitoring and regulation, as well as better coordination between the European Union (EU) and Member States. The study found that the annual volume of freight transport between China and the EU increased by a factor of more than 24 between 2000 and 2022. One potential problem is that many of the Chinese companies investing in Europe are state-owned and their actions are therefore not driven by purely commercial motives. The study recommended various policy measures to increase knowledge about Chinese investment in the EU and to strengthen the EU's response both inside and outside its borders. The EU should focus on the involvement of Chinese companies in management software and other software along the TEN-T core network.
