BERLIN/HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The planned entry of Chinese state-owned group Cosco into a Hamburg container terminal could be reviewed again. There is now a registration as critical infrastructure for the Tollerort terminal (CTT), a spokeswoman for Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG) said in Hamburg on Wednesday. From the company's point of view, however, the registration does not mean any significant change for HHLA.

"This is because the HHLA Group has already been classified as critical infrastructure since 2018 and has positioned itself accordingly. The company has already been fully complying with the associated IT infrastructure security obligations since then," the spokeswoman added.

Previously, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" had reported, following joint research with NDR and WDR, that the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) had now classified the Tollerort terminal as critical infrastructure and thus as requiring special protection. This could once again call into question the Chinese involvement.

Whether this is actually the case remained unclear at first. A spokeswoman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said in Berlin on Wednesday that since the preconditions had changed, the ministry was examining the implications for the matter. The BSI and the Federal Ministry of the Interior declined to comment when asked.

Cosco originally wanted to take over 35 percent of the operating company of Container Terminal Tollerort GmbH and upgrade the terminal to Europe's preferred transshipment hub in return. However, a fierce political dispute had erupted in the German government over whether to allow Chinese participation. Last October, the cabinet passed a so-called partial prohibition, which only allows Cosco to acquire a stake of less than 25 percent. Any further acquisition above that threshold was prohibited.

According to the company, the operational management of the terminal, all customer relations and also the IT systems are controlled centrally by the HHLA Group. As an operating company, CTT is in that sense a user of the HHLA Group's own IT, it said. "Cosco Shipping Ports Limited (CSPL) would accordingly not gain any access or decision-making rights here - just as it would not in relation to the terminal's land," the spokeswoman said.

According to the media report, the corrected classification does not mean that the deal is now automatically banned. Under the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance, the critical infrastructure classification gives the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology more options in an investment review to prohibit a takeover by companies from non-EU countries.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior decides what counts as so-called critical infrastructure. The question of whether or not to approve an investment by companies from non-EU states in certain facilities will be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Economics. The cabinet is expected to pass a "Critical Infrastructure Umbrella Act" before the fall for better protection of critical infrastructure./hoe/DP/ngu