Chip production in Dortmund Did Habeck say “no” to the sale of Elmos to China?

A subsidiary of a Chinese company wants to buy a German chip maker. But now ministers could revolt against the chancellor.

The federal government is struggling to deal with Chinese investments or acquisitions in this country: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently pushed through Chinese shipping company COSCO’s involvement in a terminal in the port of Hamburg, now a risk There is a fresh controversy in the traffic light government.

Apparently, the Green Federal Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck, is very critical of the sale of the chip production facility of the Dortmund-based company Elmos to a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned company, reports “Spiegel”. According to the report, Hebek has clearly stated this position in the government. “It is not certain whether approval will be given,” the insiders are quoted as saying.

The Ministry of Economics is currently investigating the matter. An important point for the Ministry of Economics is clear: the company network of a Chinese company must have at least one subsidiary manufacturing military products – can the purchase of chip production ultimately serve the Chinese military?

So far it looked like the federal government would approve the purchase of the Elmos plant in Dortmund by Swedish-based competitor Silex, a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Psai Microelectronics. On Wednesday, “Handelsblatt” reported that Minister Hebek’s house was critical of the takeover, but that, unlike the COSCO takeover, the chancellor’s office did not want to oppose it. This was justified by the fact that the acquisition would not bring any technical advantage to China.