Under pressure from the Chancellery, the Greens and the FDP reluctantly agree: the Chinese state-owned company Cosco gets a stake in the port of Hamburg. Its operator praises the business. Scholz's spokeswoman emphasizes that there is no connection whatsoever with the Chancellor's trip to China.
The Federal Chancellery has denied a connection between the controversial Cosco decision and Olaf Scholz's planned trip to China. "The cabinet decision has nothing to do with the trip to China," said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann. After weeks of debate, the federal government had previously given the green light for the partial takeover of a container terminal in the port of Hamburg by the Chinese state-owned company Cosco.
The Federal Chancellery advocated this against the opposition of six specialist ministries. The government then agreed on a compromise: the Chinese shipping company may acquire a maximum of 24.9 percent of the terminal's operating company, not 35 percent as planned. Chancellor Scholz will travel to China next week.
The federal government's investment review process has been running for months and would have expired at the end of October, government spokeswoman Hoffmann said. The decision for or against the Cosco participation had to be made "this week". The spokeswoman did not want to comment on whether the Federal Chancellery had been in contact with the company before the decision was made.
The port company HHLA welcomed the approval for the Chinese state-owned company Cosco to enter one of its Hamburg container terminals and rejected criticism of the agreement. "The cooperation between HHLA and Cosco does not create any one-sided dependencies," explained HHLA CEO Angela Titzrath in Hamburg. HHLA will remain an independent, listed company with the Hanseatic City of Hamburg as its most important shareholder.
At the same time, Titzrath emphasized the economic importance of the cooperation with Cosco for her company. The entry of the Chinese company strengthens the "future viability of HHLA" and secure jobs in the Port of Hamburg. Cosco's stake in the Tollerort container terminal operated by HHLA will make it a central hub for trading goods with Asia. The cooperation also strengthens the Federal Republic as an "export nation".
However, the ministries involved still have concerns about the slimmed-down deal. In a protocol statement, the Green-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments expressed serious concerns about the cabinet's decision on China's entry. "The Chinese state shipping company Cosco's acquisition of shares in the Tollerort container terminal disproportionately expands China's strategic influence on German and European transport infrastructure and Germany's dependence on China," the statement said.
In government circles it was said that FDP-led departments had joined. Finance Minister Christian Lindner wrote on Twitter that the ministry had followed the Federal Foreign Office's statement in the minutes. In addition to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck also warned against Chinese involvement.
