Germany appears to be seeking to put a cap on the amount of Chinese investment in the country’s businesses.
Chinese enterprises, many backed by the Chinese government, have taken over a record number of German tech firms this year and spent more than €11 billion in the first ten months of the year, according to accountants EY.
The growing number of acquisitions has begun to cause concern about German intellectual property and its future as well as the ease of acquisition in Germany’s open market.
"Germans seem to be growing more and more sceptical about China, and consequently more willing to pursue a tougher approach to Beijing," said the German Marshall Fund’s analyst Hans Kundnani.
Two planned Chinese purchases were stalled this week when the German economy ministry said it is taking a deeper look at them.
One was a €670 million takeover of German chip equipment maker Aixtron by China’s Grand Chip Investment. On Monday the ministry said it had withdrawn its approval of the deal. The arrangement is now back under review.
The ministry said days later that it was to review the proposed acquisition of the lighting unit of German company Osram to a Chinese buyer.
The minister, Sigmar Gabriel, accompanied by a business delegation of 60, is setting off on Tuesday for a five-day trip to China and Hong Kong. China is one of Germany’s most important trading partners.
While there has been little official reaction from Bejing over rising German concerns, the matter is likely to be high on the agenda.
The minister told reporters this week that investment with China could not be “a one-way street” and that Germany “would like reciprocity”.
Foreign investors are all too aware of the obstacles they face in trying to do business in China and would like to see some barriers come down.
