German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed the need for Europe to diversify its relations to ensure it is not dependent on any one nation, a day after he pushed through a decision to let a Chinese firm invest in a terminal at the country’s largest port.
Businesses must ensure that they have multiple supply chains to obtain their goods and that their investments are not concentrated on just one country, added Scholz in a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens.
“Those who had not considered this carefully enough for a long time are doing it now in light of the developments worldwide,” said Scholz when asked about Europe’s China ties.
At the same time, Scholz defended the German government’s decision to allow China’s Cosco to take a 24.9% stake in a terminal in Hamburg as good and correct – one that brought on protest within the governing coalition over concerns about Chinese influence.
He emphasized that the “ground and soil” of the port in Hamburg were state property and would never be privatised.
The approved investment is less than the initially planned 35% stake that the Chinese shipping giant and logistics firm HHLA had aimed for and does not give Cosco any say in the management or strategic decisions.
Meanwhile, Germany’s ruling coalition may allow China’s Cosco to take a smaller stake in a Hamburg port terminal than originally planned, government sources told Reuters, in a compromise to allow the deal to go ahead.
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Shipping giant Cosco last year made a bid to take a 35% stake in one of logistics firm HHLA’s three terminals in Germany’s largest port in Hamburg, but the German coalition has been divided over whether to approve the deal.
The compromise being discussed would see Berlin approving a sale of 24.9% of the terminal to Cosco, though sources said Germany’s economy and foreign ministries were advising against the deal, even with the amended terms.
How the coalition handles the matter is seen as a gauge of how far Germany is willing to toughen its stance on China, its top trading partner, due to concerns about being overly dependent on the increasingly assertive authoritarian country.
The sources said negotiations had not yet been finalised. The news comes a week before German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to travel to China.
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