Container terminal Tollerort: Dispute over Chinese investor for the port of Hamburg

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A Cosco container ship at the Tollerort terminal

Photo: Christian Charisius/ dpa

The port of Hamburg has warned the federal government against banning the planned entry of the Chinese shipping giant Cosco at a container terminal.

“An entry of the Chinese into the operating company would be a huge gain for the port and not a threat, especially since Cosco will soon be the world's largest shipping company,” said Axel Mattern, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing.

"A refusal of the Chinese would be a disaster not only for the port but for Germany," he added, referring to possible Chinese reactions.

The background is that Cosco wants to take a 35 percent stake in the operator of the container terminal in Tollerort in the port of Hamburg.

In mid-August, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology became aware of concerns about the plans of the port operator HHLA.

At the latest with Russia's war against Ukraine, in which Moscow strategically uses Germany's dependence on Russian energy supplies, many observers fear that Germany could become too dependent on China in other areas.

This was already evident in the supply of medical masks during the corona crisis;

in computer chips and battery technology, many Chinese companies have a dominant position in their respective markets.

The country pursues a strategic investment policy worldwide.

Different tendencies within the federal government

A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Economics confirmed on Friday that an investment review process for Cosco's entry into the port of Hamburg is underway because ports are critical infrastructure.

He denied that Economics Minister Robert Habeck had vetoed it.

As the Reuters news agency learned from several people involved in the process, there is disagreement in the federal government as to whether entry should be approved or rejected.

In the foreign and economic ministries led by the Greens, there is a clear tendency towards rejection, while there are reservations in the chancellery, it was said unanimously.

Mattern considers the approval to be mandatory: "It's just a minority stake in the operator of the Tollerort terminal - which Cosco already uses to a large extent today," he emphasized.

Cosco will also not acquire any land.

The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) also warned of negative consequences in the event of a rejection: »If no clear safety criteria are comprehensible, the ban on investments in China, a trading partner that is so important for our economy, will have negative effects on the investment attractiveness of our locations«, said DIHK foreign trade chief Volker Treier.

mamk/Reuters