A participation of the Chinese logistics juggernaut Cosco in Hamburg’s Tollerort container terminal must be categorically rejected. This decision must be made immediately and communicated without delay. The deadline for the investment review process expires on October 31. If the deadline is not extended and there is no cabinet decision, this will effectively be deemed to be approval. The sale could then be completed and the Chinese state-owned group Cosco would acquire a 35% stake in the company operating the Tollerort container terminal in Hamburg. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz is not making a clear statement. Will he let the deal go through by letting the deadline pass?
China accuses Germany of unclear behavior because Europe does not speak the same strategic language. If we allow further discussion in the current situation and extend the review process with an open outcome, China will once again accuse us of being an unreliable business partner. And indeed, unlike China, our rules remain open. The country has shown, particularly with its investments in foreign seaports and inland ports, that it wants to dominate an entire industry. Smaller and minority shareholdings in particular, alongside major acquisitions such as the Greek port of Piraeus, show that China is implementing long-term and far-reaching strategies. Nothing is left to chance, the milestones for the future have been set. By acquiring a stake in Tollerort, China would gain access to the most intimate data on Central European and Atlantic container traffic. Together with its numerous port holdings in Germany and Europe, China could soon have access to big data on European freight logistics like no other competitor.
Europe has nothing to offer China in terms of disputes and its legal system. The European antitrust authorities always make their judgments on the basis of the European market, in which competitive balance must prevail – with the result that our players remain too small compared to the global competitive structure and are limited in their global reach. The state economic model that governs our industry is outdated. The Chinese model, on the other hand, which has no antitrust control and delimitation vis-à-vis the state and value creation partners, can implement new economic models in an unregulated and limited manner.
China’s investments, for example in the logistics sector, are no coincidence. The individual investments are becoming a state-driven network. China is pursuing purely nationalistic interests. In this respect, the statement that an investment by the Chinese Cosco improves the strategic and economic position of the Port of Hamburg is purely an advertising argument. Even the large Chinese commercial enterprises such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent have to submit to state power. It is a fact that there are state-driven parallel structures within the corporations that monitor the management and control whether all actions serve the state. The Chinese autocracy has long since become a digital dictatorship. It is an illusion to believe that this system is geographically limited to China. German managers who also do business in China have long been monitored in Germany. It would be naïve to believe that Cosco will ignore monitoring obligations if it acquires a stake in a Hamburg container terminal. This will not happen as obviously as in China, but it will happen. It is about exploring business scenarios to make management compliant.
Do we want to allow that? No. We would increasingly restrict our existing entrepreneurial and personal freedoms in the medium term. We need to rely much more on our medium-sized structures, on the diversity of logistics providers and, above all, on our European partners. We have learned from the war in Ukraine that Europe is capable of joining forces. The dangers emanating from China are potentially greater than those from Russia. China could paralyze half our economy in one fell swoop if, for example, highly integrated semiconductor components, which are the key to professional solutions and consumer products, fail to materialize. We can only defend ourselves against China by repeatedly demanding symmetry: the same behavior from China. If Europe holds zero stakes in Chinese ports, then this must be used as an argument against further Chinese port ownership in Germany.
Following this pattern, we should also demand symmetrically designed regulations on China from EU governments, which must be clearly formulated and which everyone is obliged to implement. For example, we should consistently close off all those sectors that China closes off to foreign countries. This includes, above all, our infrastructure and logistics: in other words, no further investments and concessions in the maritime, river and airport sectors.
This article is based on a detailed article in the “Denker der Wirtschaft” series: https://www.dasinvestment.com/cosco-hamburger-hafen-china-investments-bundesverband-merger-und/
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kai Lucks
