The military and political manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait, where China’s pressure has become more intense over the last few days, and the escalation of geopolitical and commercial tensions due to the ambiguous political role played by Beijing in the Ukrainian conflict, could be behind Berlin’s decision to revise the agreement on Cosco’s stake in a terminal in the port of Hamburg.
According to reports in the specialized publication Splash 247, in fact, the Tollerort terminal was classified by the Federal Office for information Security as a critical infrastructure and, for this reason, the German government intends to take its time to re-evaluate the offer.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Economics said that since circumstances had changed, they would have to examine the consequences.
As is well known, in September 2021 Cosco had announced its intention to invest 65 million euros to purchase a minority stake (35%) in Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Container Terminal Tollerort, which operates the Tollerort container terminal in the German port of call.
The deal was not finalized due to delays that Cosco had formally attributed to the failure to meet certain contractual conditions but which, in reality, were due to the strong resistance of the Berlin government to the expansion of the Chinese sphere of influence into the heart of the European port sector.
A few months earlier, in fact, the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, had stated in an interview with the Reuters news agency that he was inclined not to allow the agreement, in order to avoid handing over a stake in critical German infrastructure to China.
In October 2022, a compromise was reached with the German government giving the go-ahead for Cosco’s acquisition of a 24.9% minority stake.
In January 2023, however, HHLA had explained that the details of the agreement had not yet been finalized but that the transaction would nevertheless be concluded very soon.
So today things have come to a halt once again.
Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen commented that it was certainly not the first time that Cosco’s expansion plans had been viewed with suspicion by European institutions and media.
He warned that from now on, Chinese companies are likely to come under increasing scrutiny with, especially in the area of port infrastructure investments, particularly in Europe and the US.
According to Mr Jensen, this situation will end up benefiting companies like PSA, DP World, ICTSI and Adani ports that aren’t affiliated with China, Europe or the US.
Translation by Giles Foster
