BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s ruling coalition may allow China’s Cosco to take a smaller stake in a Hamburg port terminal than originally planned, government sources told Reuters, in a compromise to allow the deal to go ahead.
Shipping giant Cosco last year made a bid to take a 35% stake in one of logistics firm HHLA’s three terminals in Germany’s largest port in Hamburg, but the German coalition has been divided over whether to approve the deal.
The compromise being discussed would see Berlin approving a sale of 24.9% of the terminal to Cosco, though sources said Germany’s economy and foreign ministries were advising against the deal, even with the amended terms.
How the coalition handles the matter is seen as a gauge of how far Germany is willing to toughen its stance on China, its top trading partner, due to concerns about being overly dependent on the increasingly assertive authoritarian country.
The sources said negotiations had not yet been finalised. The news comes a week before German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to travel to China.
Table Media’s China.Table had reported on Monday that Cosco might agree to a deal for a smaller stake, citing sources close to the negotiations.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Alexander Ratz; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Miranda Murray and Mark Potter)
