China’s belt and road, once a hotspot for European investment, is getting the cold shoulder

Name: China-owned shipping giant gets toehold in German port with controversial deal
Uploaded: 2024-05-07T02:00:22.000Z
Duration: 2 min 9 s
Description: China-owned shipping giant gets toehold in German port with controversial deal

European firms are less likely to finance or participate in infrastructure projects with China, concerned over association with Belt and Road Initiative

Shifts in political winds, disagreements over methods have reduced interest in cooperation with Chinese partners, though some still see promise

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President Xi Jinping on a visit to Germany’s Duisburg port in 2014. Collaboration between Europe and China on projects like the Duisburg-Chongqing railway line are more scarce now than in earlier years. Photo: Getty Images

Ralph Jennings

Published: 10:00am, 7 May 2024Updated: 9:10am, 8 May 2024

Though some multinational companies from Europe still see promise in projects aligned with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, acting on that potential is more difficult than it was 10 years ago thanks to deep geopolitical complications and fundamental differences of opinion on how best to build infrastructure.

Duisport, the German operator of Europe’s largest inland hub for water and land shipping, has invested US$30 million in a cross-border railway hub in Chongqing, an important logistics node for the initiative – China’s global strategy to enhance regional connectivity through infrastructure.

“China is one of the fields where we see growth potential,” said Duisport Chief Executive Officer Markus Bangen, citing a 15 per cent surge in container traffic related to the country for his company over the past decade.

More Chinese investment is on the way, he said. “China is on the radar”.

02:09

China-owned shipping giant gets toehold in German port with controversial deal

Other headline projects include railways, airports and power plants, with firms in France, the Netherlands and the UK pitching in at various levels. Some more indirect aid involved letting China invest in European infrastructure that links up with belt and road projects.

But foreign companies may find taking part harder now than it was 10 years ago, due to geopolitical complications and growing tensions with both sides of the Atlantic.

China’s belt and road, once a hotspot for European investment, is getting the cold shoulder

European firms are less likely to finance or participate in infrastructure projects with China, concerned over association with Belt and Road Initiative Shifts in political winds, disagreements over methods have reduced interest in cooperation with Chinese partners, though some still see promise

European firms are less likely to finance or participate in infrastructure projects with China, concerned over association with Belt and Road Initiative

Shifts in political winds, disagreements over methods have reduced interest in cooperation with Chinese partners, though some still see promise