“The whole thing looks like the chancellor going it alone on his China-political aberration”
The container terminal in Tollerort is already a frequent destination for Cosco ships
Source: dpa
According to the BDI, the federal government’s decision to involve the Chinese state shipping company in a Hamburg port terminal is “good for competitiveness”. However, the approval met with sharp criticism from the Greens government faction and the CDU opposition.
Dhe Federation of German Industries (BDI) has welcomed the German government’s approval of the entry of the Chinese state-owned company Cosco at a container terminal in Hamburg. “The federal government’s decision to release the minority stake is good for Germany as an investment location and as an import and export country,” said BDI Managing Director Tanja Gönner on Thursday. The economic competitiveness and technological sovereignty of Germany and the EU required fundamental openness to foreign investments, including from China.
China is the largest trading partner of Germany and the Port of Hamburg. “The participation strengthens the cooperation between the partners and the competitiveness of the port and the logistics location and thus of the industrial nation of Germany,” emphasized Gönner. It is reasonable to expand economic relations with China – even with increasing geopolitical tensions. “The triad of China as a competitor and system rival, but also as a partner, introduced by the EU Commission in 2019 and reinforced in the coalition agreement, is the right approach.”
After months of dispute, the federal government decided on Wednesday, in accordance with a cabinet decision last October, to acquire a minority stake from Cosco Shipping Ports Ltd. (CSPL) at Terminal Tollerort (CTT) of a maximum of 24.99 percent. Cosco originally wanted to take over 35 percent of the operating company. However, several federal ministries had protested against this. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) was relieved about the decision and emphasized that the CTT could now be expanded into a preferred transhipment point for long-standing HHLA customer Cosco, where cargo flows between Asia and Europe would be concentrated.
However, the government’s approval continues to be met with sharp criticism from the Greens government faction and the CDU opposition. “It was wrong, it is wrong and it will remain wrong,” said Green economic politician Felix Banaszak to the “Handelsblatt”. It is a mistake that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is preventing a new investment review process. “In the case of the Chancellor, misunderstood Hamburg local patriotism is mixed with a foreign trade policy that has learned nothing from the fatal mistakes in dealing with Russia.” Scholz was behind before his move Berlin Hamburg’s mayor.
CDU security politician Roderich Kiesewetter was similarly critical. “Since the intelligence services and other ministries have issued massive warnings against the sale of shares in the port terminal to Cosco, the whole thing looks much more like the Chancellor going it alone on his China-political aberration,” said the vice-chairman of the secret service control committee in the Bundestag also the “Handelsblatt”. Germany must finally learn from the mistakes it has made towards the autocracy of Russia.
FDP and left call for clarification
In Hamburg the reactions are mixed. While the SPD around Mayor Peter Tschentscher and Economics Senator Melanie Leonhardt welcomed the approval and the Greens and the CDU did not criticize it either, things are different with the FDP. “The Chinese participation in the Tollerort terminal came about in a process that deserves criticism. It is a weak point of the procedure that the classification of the HHLA terminal in Tollerort as a critical infrastructure only recently became known. The late reporting by the company is out of the question in view of the security policy implications,” said Michael Kruse, a member of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Such an example should not be repeated against the background of an urgently needed de-risking in relation to China. “Chancellor Olaf Scholz should give this overarching goal higher priority in the future,” said Kruse.
The left-wing faction welcomed the approval, but also called for clarification on Thursday: “The left-wing faction expressly supports trade with China and rejects the sometimes hysterical discussion about Chinese involvement in the HHLA terminal in Tollerort. However, the Hamburg Senate has to provide clarification: How could this chaos arise around the participation? The consistent elimination of the citizenship on this issue has fallen on the Senate’s feet and thus also the Port of Hamburg,” said Norbert Hackbusch, port policy spokesman for his parliamentary group.
HHLA wants to expand Tollerort
HHLA announced on Wednesday evening that the decision would make it possible to expand the Tollerort container terminal into a preferred transhipment point for long-standing HHLA customer Cosco, where cargo flows between Asia and Europe would be concentrated. HHLA and CSPL would now “finalize the transaction promptly,” it said. “All questions relating to the investment review process could be clarified together in intensive, constructive discussions,” emphasized HHLA.
According to HHLA, China is currently the largest trading partner of Germany and the Port of Hamburg. Around 30 percent of the goods handled in the port of Hamburg come from or go to China.