A sell-off of logistics? The domestic intelligence agency is sounding the alarm: What's really behind the new China deal in the Port of Hamburg?

Cosco and the Zippel case: The real danger to the Port of Hamburg doesn't come from China at all

Security risk or scaremongering? Capital shortage instead of hostile takeover: Why politicians are completely missing the point when it comes to the Port of Hamburg

When the Chinese state-owned shipping company Cosco takes over a traditional Hamburg freight forwarding firm, alarm bells inevitably ring at German security agencies. But is the planned takeover of the 350-employee company Konrad Zippel actually a risk to critical infrastructure – or rather a symptom of a fundamental industrial policy failure? The current debate reveals a dangerous imbalance: While politicians, fearing Chinese influence, are increasingly casting suspicion on even non-critical investments, the real problem is being ignored – the critical capital shortfall in domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This analysis examines why a knee-jerk defensive mechanism is no substitute for strategic economic policy, where the real dangers for Germany as a business location lie, and why Berlin and Brussels urgently need to identify new financing options.

Chinese investments in the Port of Hamburg: Between security reflex and economic sense

When mistrust becomes politics instead of replacing politics

Germany and Europe are currently undergoing a fundamental readjustment of their approach to China. The need for careful scrutiny of Chinese investments is hardly in doubt. The real point of contention is where this vigilance should begin and according to which criteria it should be applied. The true challenge lies not in critically examining as many investments as possible, but in distinguishing the genuinely relevant cases from the less relevant ones. It is precisely this distinction that is lacking in the current German debate, as the case of the Hamburg-based inland freight forwarder Konrad Zippel exemplifies.

The economic reality of 2026 includes the continued targeted investment of Chinese companies in Europe, particularly in port and logistics infrastructure. However, this does not automatically translate into strategic influence in a security policy sense. The crucial factor is whether formal ownership actually translates into operational control, for example, over critical infrastructure, key technologies, or irreplaceable data flows. Where such dependencies could realistically arise, careful scrutiny is not only legitimate but essential for a country's economic sovereignty.

The debate becomes problematic, however, when a justified basic vigilance morphs into a blanket defensive reflex that casts suspicion on every change of ownership. A security approach that fails to differentiate misses its true purpose. It focuses political and public attention on events of limited practical relevance and risks obscuring the truly strategic issues, while smaller, but symbolically charged cases dominate the headlines.

From cargo ship to logistics company: A systematic industry transformation

This challenge is particularly evident in the logistics sector, which has been undergoing profound structural change for years. The recent debate surrounding the Chinese shipping company Cosco's acquisition of a stake in the operating company of the Tollerort container terminal in the Port of Hamburg has already demonstrated how sensitively issues of ownership, influence, and infrastructure are now assessed. After two years of negotiations and considerable political wrangling within the German federal government, Cosco was finally granted a minority stake of 24.99 percent in the terminal operating company in 2023, explicitly below the threshold of a blocking minority. At the time, the Hamburg city government emphasized that the land and buildings of the terminal would remain entirely in public ownership and that operations, all customer relationships, and IT systems would be centrally managed by the state-owned Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA).

This sensitivity towards port infrastructure is understandable. However, it should not lead to all investments along logistics value chains automatically being interpreted as security risks. The extent to which the logistics industry has been undergoing profound structural change for years is evident in the fact that the major container shipping companies have evolved from mere transport providers into integrated logistics groups that now aim to be present at as many stages of the value chain as possible.

Companies aiming to efficiently organize global supply chains today strive to control as many links in the transport chain as possible, from the seaport to the end customer inland. Investments in terminals, rail transport, warehousing, and freight forwarding services have become standard strategic practice for international market leaders like Maersk and MSC, who have long since expanded their business models beyond pure maritime transport. Cosco's European strategy follows precisely this internationally established pattern of vertical integration.

A traditional company in the focus of security authorities

In December 2025, Cosco, through its Dutch subsidiary Goldlead Supply Chain Development, notified the German Federal Cartel Office of its planned acquisition of 80 percent of the shares in Konrad Zippel Spediteur GmbH, founded in 1876. The long-established Hamburg-based company, recognizable by its green trucks and yellow lettering, employs around 350 people and operates in the hinterland transport sector of German seaports, handling the onward transport of containers by truck, rail, and inland waterway between the port and the hinterland. Managing partner Axel Plaß confirmed the planned acquisition and stated that he would retain a 20 percent stake and continue to lead the company, while his previous co-partner, Axel Kröger, would be leaving the company.

With a market share of around 1.5 percent, Zippel handles only a small portion of total inland container traffic. The company operates neither its own port facilities nor container terminals, nor its own rail infrastructure. It organizes transport and manages logistics processes, but does not own any strategic physical facilities whose control alone would create security-related dependencies. The German Federal Cartel Office approved the acquisition in February 2026 without any concerns from a competition law perspective, explicitly stating that foreign trade law or security policy aspects were not subject to antitrust merger control.

And yet, the matter is far from settled. According to research by NDR and WDR, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's domestic intelligence agency) has raised significant concerns about the deal and opposed the takeover as part of the parallel investment review process. The reason given is the fear of a so-called cumulative acquisition strategy by the Chinese state-owned company in Germany and Europe – that is, the concern that individual, insignificant holdings could accumulate into a larger strategic network of influence. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, which is the lead ministry in the process, is currently conducting the final investment review, in which several ministries and security agencies are involved.

Our China expertise in business development, sales and marketing - Image: Xpert.Digital

Industry focus areas: B2B, digitalization (from AI to XR), mechanical engineering, logistics, renewable energies and industry

More information here:

• Expert Business Hub
• China Blog / Insights

A thematic hub offering insights and expertise:

• Knowledge platform covering global and regional economies, innovation and industry-specific trends
• A collection of analyses, insights, and background information from our key areas of focus
• A place for expertise and information on current developments in business and technology
• A hub for companies seeking information on markets, digitalization, and industry innovations

Capital shortage in medium-sized businesses: Why German companies rely on foreign investors

Across Germany, medium-sized companies are increasingly facing the question of how to finance necessary investments and secure long-term competitiveness. In this environment, strategic investors can provide capital, international networks, and development opportunities that are often difficult to achieve on their own. The alternative to an investment is by no means automatically the unhindered continuation of operations under the existing ownership structure, but often simply the gradual erosion of a company's substance, lacking the resources for modernization and growth.

In logistics, investments like Cosco's currently follow an industry logic long established among major international shipping companies. This doesn't mean the development should go unnoticed. For port locations like Hamburg, however, closer integration of the seaport and its hinterland is fundamentally a positive development. Efficient connections between seaports and their hinterland strengthen the competitiveness of these locations, increase their attractiveness to shippers, and improve integration into international supply chains, which is particularly important for Hamburg, as almost a third of its container traffic originates from or is destined for China.

A few years ago, acquiring a stake in a Hamburg-based medium-sized company with 350 employees would have gone unnoticed by economic policymakers. The sudden public and political attention should now be used as a litmus test for the German economy, to fundamentally clarify how to deal with foreign investment in the future. The central question is not whether a medium-sized freight forwarding company without its own critical infrastructure should be allowed to be acquired by an international shipping company. Rather, it should be why medium-sized companies in a strategically important sector are increasingly dependent on international capital and why viable national or European alternatives are so often lacking.

Differentiation instead of general suspicion as a guiding principle

The answer to this structural capital gap certainly cannot lie in a blanket distrust of foreign investors. Open markets, international capital flows, and cross-border corporate investments have been fundamental to Germany's economic success for decades, benefiting both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large export corporations. What is crucial, rather, is the ability to appropriately differentiate between various risk categories.

Applying the same standards to a medium-sized freight forwarder without its own terminal or network infrastructure as to power grids, telecommunications infrastructure, or key military technologies obscures precisely the distinctions that are crucial for a sound strategic assessment. While the accusation of a cumulative acquisition plan may provide valid grounds when considering the overall Chinese involvement in the Port of Hamburg, it must not lead to a reversal of the burden of proof, where every single transaction is blocked regardless of its actual security implications.

A prudent China policy is not characterized by reflexively declaring every change of ownership a security issue, thereby tying up political resources that are more urgently needed elsewhere. Rather, it is characterized by focusing attention where actual dependencies can arise, such as port land, terminal operations, or digital control infrastructure, while simultaneously recognizing the industrial policy challenges that become apparent behind cases like this: an investment gap in German SMEs that European capital has so far been unable to adequately fill.

The real task for Berlin and Brussels

The Zippel case thus exposes a deeper structural weakness in German and European economic policy that extends far beyond this individual case. If family-run medium-sized companies in strategically important sectors like port logistics regularly have to rely on non-European capital because domestic or European investors are lacking, this is primarily an industrial policy problem, not a security policy one. The debate surrounding Cosco and Zippel should therefore serve less as a pretext for new defense mechanisms and more as a wake-up call to develop alternative financing and investment models for German SMEs, such as specialized infrastructure funds, government guarantee programs, or European co-financing instruments.

At the same time, Germany needs clearer, legally sound criteria for determining which investments actually require in-depth security policy scrutiny and which do not. An investment review system that initiates several hundred proceedings annually, as demonstrated by the 339 reviews initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in 2025, requires robust filters to distinguish the few truly critical cases from the vast majority of unproblematic transactions. Otherwise, a situation risks arising in which neither foreign investors, nor German businesses, nor the security authorities themselves can reliably assess the true rules of the game, which, in the long run, will harm both Germany's economic standing and its security efforts.

The quasi-in-house solution: How Xpert.Digital closes operational gaps in B2B marketing and sales – Smart Content-Driven Business - Image: Xpert.Digital

Xpert.Digital is a data-driven B2B industry hub led by Konrad Wolfenstein . The company acts as an external, quasi-in-house solution for industrial partners, closing operational gaps in marketing, content, and sales – without requiring additional resources on the client side.

More information here:

• The quasi-in-house solution: How Xpert.Digital closes operational gaps in B2B marketing and sales – Smart Content-Driven Business

☑️ Our business language is English or German

☑️ NEW: Correspondence in your native language!

Konrad Wolfenstein

I and my team are happy to be available to you as your personal advisor.

You can contact me by filling out the contact form here [email protected]:or simply call me at +49 7348 4088 965. My email address is

I'm looking forward to our joint project.

☑️ SME support in strategy, consulting, planning and implementation

☑️ Creation or realignment of the digital strategy and digitization

☑️ Expansion and optimization of international sales processes

☑️ Global & Digital B2B trading platforms

☑️ Pioneer Business Development / Marketing / PR / Trade Fairs