European countries' concerns about Chinese investments unfounded: China Daily editorial

Under a compromise agreed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Cabinet, CSPL, a terminal operator listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and a member of the Cosco Shipping Group, has received the go-ahead to buy a stake "below 25 percent" in the Tollerort container terminal owned by HHLA in Hamburg Port, the German economy ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The approved investment in one of the German company's three terminals is less than the initially planned 35 percent, but the European Union's travails as a result of its dependency on Russian gas has put foreign investments under greater scrutiny in Europe, and there had been calls to ban the investment outright over security concerns.

According to Reuters, the German Foreign Ministry was opposed to the deal, saying that the investment would "disproportionately" expand China's strategic influence over European transport infrastructure as well as increase Germany's dependence on China. Supporters of the deal say it will allow Hamburg to keep pace with rival ports that are also vying for Chinese trade.

As spokesperson of HHLA Hans-Joerg Heims said when warning of the politicization of the deal, if the deal fails, Hamburg would be at a disadvantage compared with Rotterdam and Antwerp.

With the minority interest of CSPL, Container Terminal Tollerort will become a "preferred hub" for Cosco in Europe, meaning it will be the preferred transshipment point for the Chinese company, and cargo flows will be concentrated there, but it will continue to be open to all shipping lines.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, when asked about the deal on Wednesday, said that China hoped "relevant parties will view practical cooperation between China and Germany in a rational light and stop the groundless hype". 

Germany needs to only look south to see the benefits of Chinese port investment. Greece's Piraeus Port Authority announced on Wednesday a 28.02 percent increase in revenues in the first nine months of 2022, compared with the same period last year.

China's Cosco Shipping acquired a majority stake in the port in 2016 after an international tender, and a subsidiary, Piraeus Container Terminal, has managed the port's container terminals since 2009.

The politicization of Chinese investments is an outcome of the United States' efforts to decouple China from the global economy on the grounds of fabricated security concerns. The record belies such claims as it shows that Chinese investments are beneficial to the host countries, not risks.