Germany blocks another big business deal with China
London/Berlin CNN —
Germany has blocked the sale of a Volkswagen subsidiary to China on national security grounds, delivering a fresh blow to the already tense relationship withitsbiggest trading partner.
MAN Energy Solutions, part of the Volkswagen Group, said in June 2023 that it planned to sell its gas turbines business to Chinese state-owned CSIC Longjiang GH Gas Turbine Co (GHGT). But a German government review, initiated in September, raised concerns that China might use the gas turbines to power warships, according to Reuters.
The decision to block the deal comes just weeks after the European Union hiked tariffs on electric vehicles from China, sparking a trade dispute with Beijing, which days later launched an investigation into prices of EU pork.
During a press conference Wednesday, Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said that Berlin welcomes investments from foreign companies, but technologies relevant to “public security” must be protected from countries “which maybe do not always have a friendly relationship with us.”
At the same press conference, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she welcomed the government’s decision “for security reasons.”
Germany and China traded goods worth €255 billion ($275.3 billion) last year, according to German government figures. But Berlin’s relationship with Beijing has come under strain in recent years, as Germany tries to protect local manufacturers and reduce its dependence on China.
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