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Container ship of the Cosco China Ocean Shipping Company at the HHLA container terminal in Tollerort in the Port of Hamburg
Photo: IMAGO / IMAGO/Nikita
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), the offer by the Chinese company Cosco to take a stake in a terminal puts the Port of Hamburg in a difficult position.
"When Cosco says, 'You will become a preferred port if you accept the participation', one naturally has to ask the question: What if this participation is not approved?" Rolf Langhammer from IfW Kiel told the »NDR«.
“Would cargo then be taken from Hamburg to other North Sea ports – i.e. Rotterdam, Seebrücke or Antwerp?” the expert continued.
“This is the critical moment at this point.
Because the Port of Hamburg is in a difficult situation.«
In 2021, the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA and the Chinese terminal operator Cosco Shipping Ports Limited reached an agreement on a 35 percent Chinese stake in the HHLA terminal in Tollerort in the Hanseatic city.
Now there is a dispute in politics over the question of whether Chinese participation should be allowed.
Cosco primarily an instrument of Beijing
The siltation problem and the problem of the Elbe deepening cannot be solved so easily for a tidal port, Langhammer continued.
"That means that Hamburg, as a competitor to Rotterdam and the other ports, has its back against the wall."
According to the motto: If you don't do this, there will be negative consequences.«
Jacob Gunter from the Mercator Institute for China Studies explained in an interview with "ntv.de": "Cosco is not a normal shipping company like the Danish Maersk, but one of the most important state-owned companies in China." The company is primarily an instrument of Beijing.
Gunter warned that if Cosco gained too much clout, other shipping companies without government support would be put out of business.
Peter Heidt (FDP), head of a delegation from the Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag, also expressed skepticism about the project.
"I have great concerns that we want to sell important infrastructure like the port of Hamburg to the Chinese," he told the dpa news agency.
"I think that's a big mistake." Security authorities also warned against it.
"That speaks volumes."
China points to cooperation and mutual benefit
China, on the other hand, appeased.
The state government is appealing to Germany to remain open.
Since diplomatic relations were established 50 years ago, pragmatic cooperation and mutual benefit have always been the guiding principles, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Both countries would have participated intensively in the development of the other and benefited from it.
China welcomes mutually beneficial projects, the broad statement said.
Both China and Germany should adhere to openness and cooperation, to jointly promote the healthy and stable development of economic and trade cooperation.
jme/dpa
