Chinese investment in Europe has been a hot topic among politicians for months, perhaps years. The heated discussions have focused on high-level security issues. The Chinese takeover of part of the Port of Hamburg was also one of them. And yesterday, after about a year and a half, the German government's statement came to light.
Berlin had notified HHLA and Cosco that their revised agreement complied with a cabinet resolution made in the fall of 2022 that restricts Chinese state-owned company Cosco's stake in the terminal to less than 25%.
However the deal is not about stakes, explains managing director of the Association of Forwarding & Logistics of the Czech Republic Petr Rozek:
"Of course, if China were to buy part of the Port of Hamburg, I don't think anyone would think of allowing them to do that. But: the company COSCO has bought a share in the operation of the CTT terminal, so they will invest in operational matters, in operational equipment, they will of course have priority clearance for their ships, they will get some money out of it. Nothing else," he said.
The agreement also complied with Berlin's designation of Tollerort as key infrastructure earlier this year, according to the statement.
As a result of this decision, CTT will now be developed into a preferred transshipment location for HHLA's long-standing customer COSCO, where the flow of goods between Asia and Europe will be concentrated. China is currently Germany's and the Port of Hamburg's biggest trading partner: around 30 per cent of the goods handled in the Port of Hamburg come from or go to China.
