Germany: Olaf Scholz wants to sell the port of Hamburg to China

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference on the second day of the European Union leaders' summit held to discuss Ukraine, energy, economic issues and relations in Brussels, Belgium, on October 21, 2022. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced this Friday (October 21) that he will make an official visit to China in early November, a trip which will be the first by a leader of a country of the EU since November 2019. REUTERS - PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW

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2 mins

The Chinese giant Cosco wants to buy 35% of a container terminal in the port of Hamburg.

A contract to this effect was signed in September.

Opponents of the project rely on the "nein" of the federal state.

But Olaf Scholz supports the project on the eve of a trip to Beijing.

The German Chancellor announced this Friday, October 21 an official visit to China in early November, a trip which will be the first of a leader of an EU country since November 2019. 

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With our correspondent in Berlin

,

Nathalie Versieux

Cosco is the world's third largest container shipping company, with 50 port terminals worldwide.

For the port of Hamburg, in decline, Chinese investment would be a godsend, a kind of life insurance in a context of strong competition.  

"

A refusal of the agreement with Cosco would be a heavy burden for the economic site and a unilateral disadvantage of Hamburg compared to Rotterdam and Antwerp"

, explains the mayor of the city Peter Tschentscher, favorable to the project.

He insists on the fact that Cosco would not have access to sensitive information from the port, nor to the decision-making process, at a time when Germany fears more than anything to throw itself into the arms of the Chinese, after the shock of its dependence on Russian gas. 

Opponents of the agreement with Cosco recall the

misadventures of Lithuania

, whose companies have been boycotted by China since the opening of an embassy in Taiwan last year.

Or the

port of Piraeus

near Athens, 67% controlled by Cosco.

The Chinese ambassador had personally lobbied the Greek government to lift a migrant sit-in that blocked rail access to the port in 2009. 

Berlin must decide on the case by the end of the month.

Chinese container ship 'Cosco Shipping Aries' is unloaded at a terminal in the port of Hamburg, Germany, July 27, 2018. REUTERS - FABIAN BIMMER

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