Six federal ministries are up in arms against plans by the Chinese shipping company Cosco to join the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA. But the chancellery remains stubborn. Federal Minister of Justice Buschmann warns once again against a sale.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann has clearly spoken out against a partial sale of the Port of Hamburg to a Chinese state-owned company. “No critical infrastructure in Germany should come under the control of the Chinese government,” said Buschmann during a visit to the US capital Washington. “It’s a matter of independence.” At a press conference with US Attorney General Merrick Garland, the FDP politician added that Germany should not “repeat” the “mistakes” made in relation to Russia with China.
NDR and WDR had previously reported that the Federal Chancellery wanted to stick to the takeover of shares in the port operator HHLA by the Chinese shipping company Cosco, contrary to the opinion of six specialist ministries. Accordingly, Cosco intends to hold more than a third of the Hamburg container terminal in Tollerort.
Because this is critical infrastructure, Robert Habeck’s Federal Ministry of Economics initiated a state investment review. The federal ministries for interior, defense, finance, transport and foreign policy led by the SPD, FDP and Greens are also involved.
All six ministries had rejected the deal, reported NDR and WDR. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Intelligence Service also warned against selling it to China. “According to the research, however, the Chancellery is pushing for the entry to take place anyway,” the broadcasters reported.
Despite the concerns expressed, the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA remains optimistic that the agreed entry into Cosco can be approved by the federal government. “HHLA is still in the ongoing process of granting the required investment approval. HHLA is not aware of any negative attitude on the part of six federal ministries,” said a spokesman.
HHLA was not given any factual reasons in the proceedings that would speak against approving the investment. The HHLA spokesman confirmed that the terminal operator would not acquire any shares in the Port of Hamburg. The stake affects a maximum of 35 percent of the shares in the HHLA subsidiary Container Terminal Tollerort. As part of the investment review, the federal government is examining whether the participation poses a risk to the security of the country. “From HHLA’s point of view, this is not the case.”
Cosco does not gain access to the Port of Hamburg or HHLA, nor to strategic know-how. In addition, Cosco does not have exclusive rights to the terminal. “The cooperation between HHLA and Cosco does not create any one-sided dependencies,” said the HHLA spokesman. “On the contrary: it strengthens the supply chains, secures jobs and promotes value creation in Germany.”
