Hungary has appeared to backtrack on controversial plans for a Chinese university campus in Budapest, and has said that the project could be put to a referendum.

Opposition has been mounting to the Fudan University campus amid fears that it will saddle Hungary with Chinese debt and allow the communist superpower to increase its influence in Europe.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Budapest at the weekend accusing the government of Viktor Orb¨¢n of getting too close to China.

Following the protests, Mr Orb¨¢n¡¯s chief of staff said that the project was still at the planning stage and could be put to a public vote.

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¡°Once the project¡¯s conditions are known, we support a referendum in Budapest to decide whether locals want Fudan University here,¡± Gergely Guly¨¢s told pro-government news website Mandiner, .

The campus has become a focus for local criticism after a Hungarian news outlet, Direkt36, obtained a leaked draft document that revealed Hungary would have to shoulder a €1.3 billion (?1.1 billion) Chinese loan to cover the construction costs.

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The issue has arisen ahead of elections next year, where Mr Orb¨¢n¡¯s Fidesz party is being challenged more strongly by opposition parties than in previous polls.

The campus¡¯ opponents include Gergely Kar¨¢csony, the mayor of Budapest and a potential challenger to Mr Orb¨¢n next year.

¡°We really just don¡¯t want a Chinese elite school built at the expense of Hungarian taxpayers,¡± Mr Kar¨¢csony told the weekend protest, Reuters said.

The Fudan campus, which was due to open its doors in 2024, could ultimately host between 6,000 and 8,000 students and 500 lecturers in economics, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and medicine.

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But leaks suggesting that tuition fees of $8,000 (?5,655) a year will be charged at bachelor¡¯s level ¨C comparatively high for central Europe ¨C have led some to question whether local students will benefit or whether well-off Chinese families will be the target audience. Professors at the institution could reportedly earn up to $250,000 a year.

Under Mr Orb¨¢n, Hungary has become a rare friend of Beijing, just as much of the rest of the European Union grows more wary of China.

The country has agreed to a China-financed railway between Budapest and Belgrade, taken Chinese coronavirus vaccines and earlier this year vetoed a European Union resolution condemning China¡¯s crackdown in Hong Kong.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com