Because the aims of the Chinese Cosco on the port of Hamburg are agitating Germany
What will happen to the agreement between the port of Hamburg and the Chinese shipping company Cosco? First part of an in-depth study by Pierluigi Mennitti on Germany-China relations
If and to what extent the German government will really review its trade policy towards China, we will see how the affair involving a terminal in the port of Hamburg will end. There, on one of the docks of the Hanseatic city, the Chinese logistics giant Cosco was supposed to land. These are two public entities: the terminal is owned by the city of Hamburg, Cosco of the People's Republic of China.
Until recently, the agreement reached between the Hamburg port company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and the Cosco group would not have been questioned. The agreement provides for Cosco Shipping Ports Limited (CSPL) to acquire 35% of HLLA's Tollerort Container Terminal (CTT). But the shock suffered by the breakdown of energy relations with Moscow is causing a rethinking of the risks of trade policies oriented towards totalitarian states. And if the SPD and its chancellor Olaf Scholz still seem in favor (Scholz was Mayor of Hamburg for 7 years), the Minister of Economy Robert Habeck thinks to put the stick in the wrong direction of the Sino-Hanseatic agreement. The issue is not irrelevant also for Italy, given the presence of HHLA in the port of Trieste.
HABECK: THIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MADE
Positions in Germany have tightened: Hamburg on the one hand, Berlin (understood as the seat of the federal government) on the other. The port of Hamburg, the largest in Germany and the third in Europe, is an important part of the German infrastructure. The CTT terminal coveted by Cosco is the smallest of HHLA's various container terminals. It has four berths and 14 container gantry cranes. But through Cosco, the second largest shipping company in the world for container ships after the Danish Maersk, China already has an influence on 10% of port capacity in Europe. Cosco is also a logistics group that has already become a shareholder of 13 European ports.
The agreement between the parties must be approved by the German government, in which the Greens, after the Russian catastrophe, see themselves confirmed in their long-term strategies of disengagement from too close (if not dependent) relations with dictatorial states. And the Grünen occupy two key departments for international trade dossiers: Economy and Foreign Affairs. Habeck expressed doubts about Cosco, fearing an unjustified risk to critical infrastructures: “Actually, on the whole, I think we should be more critical of Chinese investments in Europe. I am inclined not to allow it, ”he said verbatim in a recent interview with Reuters news agency.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL WORLD PULLS STRAIGHT
From Hamburg it is now being played as a throw-in. The port company makes it known, through an aseptic communiqué, that it is engaged "in an intense exchange with the competent authorities of Berlin". Axel Mattern, board member of Hafen Hamburg Marketing, argues that "China's entry into the operating company would be a huge gain for the port and not a threat, especially as Cosco will soon be the largest shipping company in the world." In short, an opportunity not to be missed. In his opinion, "refusing the Chinese would be a disaster not only for the port but also for Germany".
Mattern belittles the scope of the agreement and believes that approval is somewhat obligatory: "This is just a minority stake in the operating company of the Tollerort terminal, which Cosco already uses significantly"
This is the position also supported by the industrialists, who are absolutely in favor of the project: "If clear safety criteria are not understandable, the prohibition of investments by China, such an important trading partner for our economy, will have a negative impact on the attractiveness of investments in our localities, ”said director of the Union of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) Volker Treier to Reuters.
THE ECONOMISTS OF KIEL SUGGEST IN CONDITIONAL YES
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) is skeptical overall, but try to put forward some advice to get out of the corner. “The Ministry of Economy should approve Cosco's participation, but only under verifiable conditions that allow permanent control of the Chinese group's business conduct,” suggests Rolf Langhammer, a commercial expert from the institute which is based 100 kilometers from Hamburg. Langhammer indicates as conditions above all the guarantee that the Senate of the Hanseatic city (ie its government) "has a vision of the digital infrastructure used by Cosco to process trade and can influence it". This infrastructure must also be kept open to competitors.
"The same must be true for Cosco's behavior in terms of prices, which must not lead to the expulsion of competitors from the market thanks to the support of the Chinese state", added the economist: the Hamburg Senate must ensure the right to revoke participation in case of violation of the conditions.
Cosco is under the direct influence of the Chinese government, but its strategic goals are unknown, they argue in Kiel. Cosco's promise to increase cargoes on Hamburg in exchange for the shareholding feeds suspicion of behavior that is not only oriented towards commercial objectives and "companies oriented to the market economy cannot promise such a thing".
Langhammer points out that "Cosco is synonymous with both the so-called maritime and digital Silk Road and therefore with the influence of China on the control of the geographical routes of maritime trade and its digital management". The risk is a growing dependence on China, both from a technological and an economic point of view.
ALL ROADS LEAD TO HAMBURG
The pressure on the Berlin government, or at least on its ecological component, also comes from the entire political world of the Hanseatic city. Hamburg has a tradition of autonomy and freedom that has its roots in the epic of the Hanseatic League, when all (sea) roads led to its port.
The current mayor Peter Tschentscher, who like Scholz is a Social Democrat, has spoken out in favor of the agreement with China. His vote is important to HHLA because 69% of the shares belong to the city of Hamburg. “There are no political guidelines on this, but what makes business sense must also be possible and done in practice,” Tschentscher said in July. The solidity of the Hanseatic political world behind the agreement is demonstrated by the absence of contrary positions expressed by the ranks of the Hamburg Grünen, mostly in the administration of the city-state. Exactly the opposite of what happens in the headquarters of the Greens in Berlin.
(To be continued; the second part will be published on Sunday 23 October)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/terminal-porto-amburgo-cosco/ on Mon, 17 Oct 2022 05:20:02 +0000.