The German government has agreed to allow Chinese shipping conglomerate Cosco to take a stake in the country’s biggest seaport, in a decision that has divided lawmakers and drawn criticism from Brussels, reports the Financial Times.
Cosco Shipping Ports will be permitted to acquire up to 25% of the Tollerort container facility—one of several terminals that comprise the port of Hamburg—the federal government announced on Wednesday.
The deal is a compromise, agreed at the insistence of German chancellor Olaf Scholz, after opposition on national security grounds from his economy, foreign, defence and interior ministries. Cosco originally planned to acquire 35% of the terminal, for €65 million, from logistics company HHLA, in a bid announced last year.