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September 2, 2026

How Chinese companies can build a local presence in Europe before launching their own production.

European service providers do not have to wait for a Chinese investor to open a factory. Demand for law firms, accounting services, warehouses, customs agencies and compliance specialists emerges much earlier, when a company begins operating locally without building all of its own assets from scratch.

In July 2024, BYD announced plans to build a plant in Manisa, near Izmir: an investment of one billion dollars, annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, 5,000 jobs and an expected launch by the end of 2026. Two years later, construction had still not begun. The company is focusing on starting production at its plant in Szeged and looking for a location for a second facility in Europe.

CATL has progressed further, but its project is also delayed. In Debrecen, it is already assembling battery modules using cells imported from other plants. The first battery cell plant, with a capacity of 40 GWh, has been completed and received an occupancy permit. As of 31 August 2026, however, battery cell production had still not begun.

Chinese investment in Europe has not disappeared. What has become clear is that several years may pass between an announcement and the first unit coming off the production line. For many companies, building a greenfield factory is therefore neither the first nor the most predictable stage of entering the market.

An announcement does not mean operations have begun

Since the pandemic, Chinese clean-technology companies have announced overseas projects worth nearly $400 billion worldwide. Once the projects that can be verified are taken into account and the announced values are adjusted proportionally, roughly half of that amount remains. According to an analysis by Rest of World, approximately $85 billion in capital was actually deployed over the course of a decade.

This does not mean that the remaining projects are fictitious. It shows that an investment announcement, the signing of documents and the start of production are three different moments.

Debrecen illustrates the difference. CATL announced the investment in August 2022 with a target capacity of 100 GWh. Four years later, the first 40 GWh facility has been completed, but battery cell production has yet to begin. The project exists and is moving forward, only much more slowly than the date of the original announcement might suggest.

The market between exports and a factory

This gap creates an opportunity for European service providers.

A Chinese company can build an operational presence in Europe without immediately constructing its own plant. It can establish a subsidiary or branch, use a contract warehouse, outsource customs handling and product compliance, register for VAT or IOSS, and employ a small local team supported by an external payroll provider.

In practice, this creates demand in three groups of services:

  • formal market entry: company registration, tax, VAT, contracts and representation;
  • goods and compliance: customs clearance, product documentation, certification, warehousing and returns;
  • local operations: payroll, employment law, accounting and administrative support for the team.

These capabilities do not have to be built from scratch. They can be purchased and put in place within weeks or months. They will not replace a factory when local production is required by regulation or by the economics of the project, but they allow operations to begin earlier and with less risk.

The same logic can be seen in BYD’s stated preference for acquiring an existing factory rather than building another one from the ground up. An acquisition also generates a broad range of work for local service providers, including due diligence, employment law, merger control, environmental assessments and the transfer of permits.

Why demand for local services is growing

Exporting remains simpler than building a plant, but European regulations are gradually increasing the cost of operating exclusively from China.

From 1 July 2026, goods in consignments worth less than €150, sold by non-EU businesses using IOSS, are subject to a flat-rate customs duty of €3 for each distinct item according to its tariff heading. The mechanism covers approximately 93% of e-commerce flows into the European Union. For some sellers, this makes it more attractive to consolidate shipments and use a warehouse on the European side.

Since January 2026, CBAM has operated under its definitive regime. Once the annual threshold of 50 tonnes of goods covered by the mechanism is exceeded, an EU importer or its indirect customs representative must obtain authorised CBAM declarant status and account for embedded emissions. This requires cooperation with the producer in China, often with support from CBAM specialists.

The proposed Industrial Accelerator Act goes further. The proposed mechanism applies to large manufacturing investments exceeding €100 million in batteries and energy storage, electric vehicles, photovoltaics and critical raw materials, originating from a country that controls more than 40% of global production capacity in the relevant sector. It provides for requirements concerning areas including employment, ownership structure, research and development, and the origin of components. It remains a proposal rather than applicable law, but the direction is clear: the European Union is increasingly regulating not only the product, but also how business operations are organised in Europe.

What this means for service providers

Do not look only for investors building factories. A potential client may be a company that does not yet need its own plant or has chosen a lighter market-entry model. It will not appear in the headlines as a major investor, but as an enquiry about establishing a company, securing warehouse space, registering for tax, ensuring product compliance or supporting a local team.

Start with a specific need, not broad advisory services. The first purchase is more likely to involve a registration, declaration, customs clearance or monthly service than a strategic project. These assignments have a lower individual value, but they are urgent and can open the door to a longer relationship.

Describe the service so that a foreign client can understand and compare it. The scope, timeframe, allocation of responsibility and process for starting the engagement should be clear before the first conversation. A company unfamiliar with the European professional-services market may not know which category of provider it needs.

Data on delayed investments does not show that Chinese companies are withdrawing from Europe. It reveals something more useful: building a presence through wholly owned assets is only one of several options and is often not the fastest.

A European service provider can join a project before the factory starts operating, continue to support it later, or handle functions for which the Chinese company does not need to build its own team and infrastructure.

EnterChina helps European B2B service providers become visible to Chinese companies planning or expanding their operations in Europe. On the Chinese-language Xijinmenhu (西进门户) platform, we present their services, help Chinese companies find the right specialist and handle the initial contact between the parties. We do not act as an intermediary in the trade of goods or provide legal advice.

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