BERLIN/HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The Federation of German Industries (BDI) has welcomed the German government's approval of Chinese state-owned Cosco's entry into a Hamburg container terminal. "The German government's decision to release the minority stake is good for Germany as an investment location and import and export country," BDI chief executive Tanja Gonner said Thursday. Germany's and the EU's economic competitiveness and technological sovereignty require fundamental openness to foreign investment, including from China, she said.

China is the largest trading partner of Germany and the Port of Hamburg, she said. "The participation strengthens the cooperation between the partners and the competitiveness of the port as well as the logistics location and thus the industrial nation Germany," Gonner emphasized. He added that it is sensible to expand economic relations with China - even in the face of growing geopolitical tensions. "The triad of China as a competitor and system rival, but also as a partner, introduced by the EU Commission in 2019 and reaffirmed in the coalition agreement, is the right approach."

The German government had decided on Wednesday to release a minority stake of Cosco Shipping Ports Ltd (CSPL) in the Tollerort Terminal (CTT) of a maximum of 24.99 after months of wrangling, in line with a cabinet decision last October. Cosco originally wanted to take over 35 percent of the operating company. However, several federal ministries had protested against this. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG) had expressed relief at the decision, stressing that CTT could now be developed into a preferred handling point for HHLA's long-standing customer Cosco, where cargo flows between Asia and Europe would be concentrated./klm/DP/zb