Chinese container freighter from Cosco: The Chinese state-owned company wants to acquire a minority stake in the Port of Hamburg.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Contrary to media reports to the contrary, no decision has yet been made by the Federal Ministry of Economics on the decision to invest the Chinese state-owned company Cosco in the port of Hamburg.
However, there is a corresponding item on the agenda for the meeting of the federal cabinet next Wednesday, which is available to the Handelsblatt: “Prohibition of the acquisition of a stake in a domestic company by a non-EU acquirer in the cross-sector investment review process”. According to government circles, this is actually the case at the port of Hamburg.
But the cabinet’s schedules are usually subject to change up to the day before – and in the current case it is not to be expected that the examination can be completed by Wednesday, it said.
The “Manager Magazin” had previously reported, citing the item on the agenda, that Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) wanted to prohibit the deal. At the request of the Handelsblatt, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics emphasized that the investment review process was still ongoing.
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At the federal political level, the plans are viewed very critically. It is a “sensitive case”, according to government circles. And for some coalition representatives, the matter is clear: no critical infrastructure such as a port terminal should fall into Chinese hands, not even in parts.
Deal raises questions
In the Hamburg state government, on the other hand, it had previously been assumed that Cosco’s participation should not pose a problem. After all, it is only a minority stake, and the Chinese company has been active in Hamburg for a long time and has never attracted any attention.
But the deal has geopolitical explosiveness. The Chinese government has repeatedly stated in the past that it wants to turn China into a “maritime power”. This also includes the expansion of existing and new port capacities as part of China’s “Maritime Silk Road”.
>> Also read here: Why the Taiwan conflict is so dangerous for the German economy
The federal government is now taking a much more critical view of economic cooperation with China. Only recently, Federal Economics Minister Habeck for the first time refused federal guarantees for Volkswagen for human rights reasons in China. The automaker has a plant with its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused of serious human rights abuses.
At the end of April, the ministry had already prohibited a Chinese takeover: It stopped the sale of the medical device manufacturer Heyer Medical to the Chinese Aeonmed Group. The case was particularly explosive: both companies manufacture ventilators – a critical commodity at least since the corona pandemic. According to Handelsblatt information, Aeonmed is now suing against the decision of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Both were clear signals to China and the local German economy that there will be no further developments in China under the traffic light government. Under the auspices of the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Government is currently working on a new China strategy that is intended to express the changed relationship with the People’s Republic.
The port of Hamburg is considered an important hub
About a year ago, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) announced that Cosco would take a 35 percent minority stake in the Hamburg container terminal. With the minority stake, the container terminal in Tollerort would become a so-called “preferred hub” in Europe, i.e. a preferred transshipment point for Cosco, it was said at the time.
According to its own statements, the Port of Hamburg is the most important logistical hub for maritime and continental goods traffic between China and Europe. According to HHLA, almost every third container handled in Hamburg comes from China or is destined for the Chinese market.
>> Read here: Why the Taiwan conflict is so dangerous for the German economy
Cosco, the fourth largest container ship company in the world, has steadily increased its stakes in European ports in recent years. Back in 2016, Cosco’s takeover of the Greek port of Piraeus caused criticism around the world. According to an analysis by the Berlin China think tank Merics, the state-owned company now has shares in at least seven ports in Europe. China Merchants Port Holdings, also from China, has bought into at least seven ports.
And Europe is not the only region where China is expanding. According to an analysis by the Washington think tank CSIS, under head of state and party leader Xi Jinping, Chinese state-owned companies have participated in investment and construction projects in dozens of ports around the world. “The scale of Chinese activity has raised questions about the potential impact on recipient countries and the broader implications of Beijing’s growing economic clout,” the experts said.
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