These are turbulent times, and in Europe, almost everything revolves around the war in Ukraine. Concerns about Western sanctions have apparently also convinced China to import slightly less oil and coal from Russia. Meanwhile, the Corona situation in the People’s Republic remains tense – even if Shanghai again registered fewer than 20,000 new infections on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, many businesses continue to run as smoothly as they can. And efforts to improve sustainability are not standing still either. China wants to establish a trading center for green power. We have noticed that, while this difficult project takes time, it is making steady progress. In parallel, reforms in the power sector and the development of supraregional power grids help to provide green power across the country.
Green power would also be a boon to the environmental footprint of the new electric behemoth that Audi revealed in China on Wednesday. The Urban Sphere is a luxury van with electric drive and autonomous driving capabilities. Above all, it’s a lounge on wheels for wealthy chauffeured customers. The virtually presented concept car strikes a chord in a market where many customers enjoy all kinds of gadgets and gizmos, analyzes Frank Sieren.
First the good news: In China, newly built wind and solar plants can mostly compete with the prices for coal-fired power – even smaller, decentralized solar roofs have become price-competitive. This is primarily due to the increased price of coal. And secondly, because it becomes increasingly affordable to start using renewable energies.
But there’s a catch: How do I buy green power in the People’s Republic when I need it – and only green power? China’s power market is still geared toward conventional power plants. Therefore, the country needs to change electricity trading in general on the one hand – and build up its own markets exclusively for green power on the other.
Both efforts are now underway. A planned platform for green power trading organized a pilot trading day for the first time in September 2021 – with actual sales and contracts. Beijing has also announced reforms in the power sector at the end of 2021, which experts believe will gradually change the playing field and improve the economics of renewable energy.
These include the development of spot markets, electricity trading between provinces, and price reforms. These reforms have the potential to spark profound change. They could play a significant role in accelerating the transition to clean energy, writes Anders Hove, Director of the Sino-German Energy Transition Project of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, in an article for China Dialogue.
Until three or four years ago, wind and solar power were still very expensive, even in China. At the price level at that time, no supply-and-demand market could emerge. So China – like other countries – promoted renewable energy through subsidies. In China’s case, according to Hove, this was mainly a subsidized, fixed feed-in tariff for producers of wind and solar power. As renewable prices continued to drop due to mass generation in the country, China phased out subsidized feed-in tariffs.
Instead, it introduced administrative measures, including wind and solar quotas for each province. It also held auctions in which state-owned power companies bid on fixed quotas for long-term green power contracts at favorable rates. These rates were at or below the level for coal-fired power.
But all this is just the beginning. How market-based trading of green power could work in practice was demonstrated by the green power trading platform for producers, end consumers and traders launched in September, at least for a single day. More than 7.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) were traded that day, which was equivalent to about one percent of the total amount of solar and wind power generated in 2021. German companies also participated, for example, chemical companies BASF and Covestro and industrial gas producer Linde. Many companies signed multi-year contracts that day – revealing how high demand actually is.
Covestro, for example, purchased 100 million kilowatt-hours of power from solar farms in northern China under a one-year contract with Datang Wuzhong New Energy, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. About 10 percent of the power Covestro needs at its Shanghai plant now comes from these solar farms, according to the company. Initially launched for solar and wind power only, this trading scheme is expected to include hydropower and other renewables in the future.
“Whether there can be multiple rounds of trading this year really depends on supply,” says David Fishman of The Lantau Group, an energy consultancy in Shanghai specializing in green power for large corporations. The problem: Large portions of green power are already tied up under contracts in the state-run system. “Tradeable green power is already sold out for 2022 and the supply for 2023 will probably be bought very quickly as well, given the high demand,” Fishman told the South China Morning Post. Interest is particularly strong in long-term contracts spanning 10 or 15 years: Large corporations need reliable planning.
As long as there is no central trading platform, interested companies have to arrange their own local access to green power. BASF, for example, currently constructs a Verbund site in the city of Zhanjiang in Guangdong, which is to be supplied with 100 percent green power by 2025. To this end, the chemical company launched a mechanism together with the provincial government for the direct purchase of green power in 2019 (China.Table reported). At the time, the company proposed the Renewable Direct Power Purchase (R-DPP) concept to local authorities, which it had jointly developed with the China Resources Power group. In March, BASF signed a 25-year green electricity framework agreement with the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) for Zhanjiang. The first plants will begin operations in Zhanjiang this year, according to BASF.
China’s power grids play a crucial role in the country’s transition to carbon neutrality. They must break the coal primacy and transmit more green electricity on a pro-rata basis. To achieve this, more and improved supraregional power grids are required. This is because the majority of green power is generated in the sun- and wind-rich regions of western China. But the greatest demand is in the industrial east coast and its metropolises.
This is why China’s grid operators have worked for years to build massive new high-voltage grids, including some lines dedicated to transmitting green power from west to east. “Cross-province electricity trading is important both for electricity security and for increasing the use of renewable energy,” Hove writes. On the pilot trading day of the green power platform, some transactions even took place across provincial borders. That’s a start, at least.
It was supposed to be the highlight of this year’s auto show in Beijing. A concept car that Audi hopes to break new ground in a new segment: A luxury van with the powertrain of a sports car. But in the end, the Beijing auto show was postponed until summer (China.Table reported). So the premiere now only took place virtually – but the buzz is huge nonetheless.
This is because this Audi concept was developed for the first time largely in China and specifically for the Chinese market. Until now, the premium manufacturer has only adapted its models for the Chinese market, for example by lengthening the wheelbase to create more space in the back seats. In China, the car’s owner often sits in the back; only the driver sits in the front.
Now the company actually listens to its Chinese customers. This marks a cultural change. In past decades, Audi engineers were all about educating the supposedly backward Chinese customers for world-class cars. Now the learning process moves in the other direction. “We developed the car together with our Chinese clientele,” says Norbert Weber, head of interior design at Audi, describing the new era. “In the process, we specifically asked what customers perceived as luxury.” The answer was: “room and a sense of space.”
The result is a car that is taller and wider than the Q7 SUV and longer than the A8 sedan. At 5.51 meters, the van is even longer than VW’s Multivan T7, which is just under five meters long. All Audi models to date are less than two meters wide. The Urban Sphere comes in at 2.01 meters. At 3.40 meters, the front and rear wheels are further apart than on the new XXL version of the Audi A8.
Nevertheless, the car looks a tad smaller from the side than it actually is. It tries to duck on its 24-inch wheels in a streamlined manner. At the front, however, the new Audi has designed a front that resembles the mouth of a baleen whale. This visualizes the 400 horsepower in its two electric motors. Anyone who gets in the way will be swallowed, so to speak, is what the van wants to signal when you look in the rearview mirror. And even when stationary, the car does not try to hide its power. It occupies an area of 11 square meters.
Audi has taken a new approach with the Urban Sphere. The car was no longer designed traditionally from the outside in, but from the inside out. It’s a living room on wheels, or a rolling lounge for those who think that sounds too conservative. The car has a lot of what traditional German drivers would call “bells and whistles”. The doors open in opposite directions to reveal a particularly large opening. The so-called B-pillar is missing. When the doors are open, LEDs project a red carpet of lights onto the road. The bucket seats turn 25 degrees toward the door, which makes getting in even easier. They can also be reclined almost completely, just like in the business class of an airplane.
The interior has an elegant and futuristic look. Leather was yesterday. Sustainable materials and wood are now combined. The steering wheel can be lowered in this vehicle, which is to be approved for Level 4 autonomous driving. LED symbols are integrated into the wood paneling and pop up or disappear behind the veneer, depending on personal taste.
The inside temperature can also be set with a twisting hand gesture; passengers can even control the screen integrated into the front seat with their eyes. Or you simply say the word “water” and the magnetically secured cup in the center console is filled. Of course, this also works with whiskey. The car also communicates with its environment on the outside. An LED wall hidden behind the front grille displays acceleration (blue) as well as the vehicle’s battery charge level (green).
“I’m fast and full,” is the colorful message to other drivers. When the car is unlocked, the front display winks friendly. This might remind older owners of K.I.T.T. in the TV show Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff. A large red cross on the radiator indicates that the car has either broken down or is out of power. You can see all these functions on YouTube.
Those who now scoff at such gimmickry should know that the Chinese love it when their vehicles light up and flash like the neon signs on a busy shopping boulevard. They are happy to pay for it. But does a giant vehicle like this make any sense at all in the clogged streets of Asia’s megacities?
The words that the Audi board member for development uses in the video stream to make the car palatable to customers suspiciously seem like the emperor’s new clothes. “Our human-centric approach created a confident and progressive body, which commands space and delivers premium stand-out appeal.”
While the environment suffers under ever heavier vehicles, Audi’s approach is on the right track in China from a marketing perspective. It is pointless for German automakers to try and compete with Chinese rivals in the compact car segment. For German premium manufacturers, if it is not already too late, there is only one way to remain successful in the Chinese market: to be even more exclusive, even more expensive, even more luxurious.
This may well result in cars for which the question of finding a parking spot becomes irrelevant. Anyone who owns such a car also has a chauffeur in China. In the evening, they disappear into their own underground parking garage anyway. The VW brand Bentley achieved growth of 40 percent with such models last year – and sold almost twice as many vehicles in China as in all of Europe.
These are cars for people who already have everything and are convinced that they are doing enough for climate change by owning an EV. Cars that are highly connected and where the interior experience is far more important than the driving experience.
In fact, luxury vans have long become popular not only in China, but throughout Asia. The Japanese, in particular, have long occupied this segment with the Toyota Alphard, the Lexus LM and, with some cutbacks, the Nissan Elgrand. China’s movie stars like to vanish in such cars. Daimler is trying its hand in this segment with the V-Class, but has yet to play a central role. So the competition is not idling, but it also does not have the Audi brand image. And this means that a small market gap is emerging.
This brings us to the biggest drawback of the Urban Sphere: So far, it is only a concept car – in other words, a car that shows what is possible, but not what will actually be launched on the market. Such a luxury vehicle should have been available in China long ago. In short, the Ingolstadt company is on the right track in China. But unlike in the past, they would have to build a real car that is close to this concept car. Above all, Audi must become faster.
Angela Titzrath has been observing China’s economic and technological development for more than 25 years. Born in Essen in 1966, she graduated at 18 and studied economics and romance philology. From 1991 to 2012, she held various top international management positions at Daimler, worked as a member of the Supervisory Board for various companies and organizations, and as a consultant and lecturer.
Since 2017, she has been Chair of the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), with more than 6,300 employees across the entire global Group and revenues of more than €1.4 billion in 2021. “My many professional stations have taken me to many different continents and have been formative for my current position,” she says. Now she wants to further develop HHLA. Once a classic port operator, the company is steadily evolving into a European logistics company. The focus here is on sustainability.
Angela Titzrath first traveled to China in the late 1990s as part of her career at Daimler. At that time, there was exactly one ring road in Beijing. Then, as today, Titzrath was fascinated by China’s beauty and culture, but also by the people’s eagerness and open minds for new things. Over time, the highway network has grown to an impressive size. The fishing village of Shenzhen has achieved the status of Asia’s Silicon Valley.
HHLA stands for 136 years of history, but also for forward-looking concepts: For example, Modility, which is something like the website Booking.com for combined transports. Or HHLA Sky GmbH, which offers technology for controlling drones and was awarded the 2021 Innovation Prize in the start-up category. There is great potential for innovation, both within the Group itself and in cooperation with China. For example, Chinese manufacturer Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) shipped three 2,480-ton container gantry cranes to Hamburg in 2019. They can also be used to handle very large ships.
In recent decades, Hamburg has become the hub of German trade with China, says Titzrath: “60 percent of container throughput in the Port of Hamburg comes from China or is destined for China.” In 1982, the first Chinese freighter had docked at HHLA’s Tollerort terminal. Today, Tollerort, one of HHLA’s three terminals in the Port of Hamburg, is a hub for liner traffic operated by COSCO Shipping Lines. “With the 35 percent minority stake of COSCO Shipping Ports Limited in our smallest terminal, Tollerort, we are putting an exclamation mark behind what has been an ongoing, downright friendly relationship for 40 years.”
She responds to critics who see investments by Chinese companies in key infrastructure as a risk: “Just as the Silk Road is not a one-way road, neither is the economic relationship between China and Germany.” China is an intensive global partner and customer not only in the port terminal sector, but also in rail freight transport and logistics. In addition to COSCO, HHLA handles ships of the shipping company China United Lines in Hamburg. So there are many links to network even more closely with China: “We have the ambition to grow together, to further develop logistics flows and to further expand markets.” Daniela Krause
A sperm whale washed up on the beach in Xiangshan near Ningbo. On Wednesday, helpers managed to push it back into the sea. For stranded whales, desiccation is particularly dangerous. So the helpers repeatedly doused him with water from plastic buckets – and kept him wet enough. In the end, he calmly swam away.
These are turbulent times, and in Europe, almost everything revolves around the war in Ukraine. Concerns about Western sanctions have apparently also convinced China to import slightly less oil and coal from Russia. Meanwhile, the Corona situation in the People’s Republic remains tense – even if Shanghai again registered fewer than 20,000 new infections on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, many businesses continue to run as smoothly as they can. And efforts to improve sustainability are not standing still either. China wants to establish a trading center for green power. We have noticed that, while this difficult project takes time, it is making steady progress. In parallel, reforms in the power sector and the development of supraregional power grids help to provide green power across the country.
Green power would also be a boon to the environmental footprint of the new electric behemoth that Audi revealed in China on Wednesday. The Urban Sphere is a luxury van with electric drive and autonomous driving capabilities. Above all, it’s a lounge on wheels for wealthy chauffeured customers. The virtually presented concept car strikes a chord in a market where many customers enjoy all kinds of gadgets and gizmos, analyzes Frank Sieren.
First the good news: In China, newly built wind and solar plants can mostly compete with the prices for coal-fired power – even smaller, decentralized solar roofs have become price-competitive. This is primarily due to the increased price of coal. And secondly, because it becomes increasingly affordable to start using renewable energies.
But there’s a catch: How do I buy green power in the People’s Republic when I need it – and only green power? China’s power market is still geared toward conventional power plants. Therefore, the country needs to change electricity trading in general on the one hand – and build up its own markets exclusively for green power on the other.
Both efforts are now underway. A planned platform for green power trading organized a pilot trading day for the first time in September 2021 – with actual sales and contracts. Beijing has also announced reforms in the power sector at the end of 2021, which experts believe will gradually change the playing field and improve the economics of renewable energy.
These include the development of spot markets, electricity trading between provinces, and price reforms. These reforms have the potential to spark profound change. They could play a significant role in accelerating the transition to clean energy, writes Anders Hove, Director of the Sino-German Energy Transition Project of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, in an article for China Dialogue.
Until three or four years ago, wind and solar power were still very expensive, even in China. At the price level at that time, no supply-and-demand market could emerge. So China – like other countries – promoted renewable energy through subsidies. In China’s case, according to Hove, this was mainly a subsidized, fixed feed-in tariff for producers of wind and solar power. As renewable prices continued to drop due to mass generation in the country, China phased out subsidized feed-in tariffs.
Instead, it introduced administrative measures, including wind and solar quotas for each province. It also held auctions in which state-owned power companies bid on fixed quotas for long-term green power contracts at favorable rates. These rates were at or below the level for coal-fired power.
But all this is just the beginning. How market-based trading of green power could work in practice was demonstrated by the green power trading platform for producers, end consumers and traders launched in September, at least for a single day. More than 7.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) were traded that day, which was equivalent to about one percent of the total amount of solar and wind power generated in 2021. German companies also participated, for example, chemical companies BASF and Covestro and industrial gas producer Linde. Many companies signed multi-year contracts that day – revealing how high demand actually is.
Covestro, for example, purchased 100 million kilowatt-hours of power from solar farms in northern China under a one-year contract with Datang Wuzhong New Energy, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. About 10 percent of the power Covestro needs at its Shanghai plant now comes from these solar farms, according to the company. Initially launched for solar and wind power only, this trading scheme is expected to include hydropower and other renewables in the future.
“Whether there can be multiple rounds of trading this year really depends on supply,” says David Fishman of The Lantau Group, an energy consultancy in Shanghai specializing in green power for large corporations. The problem: Large portions of green power are already tied up under contracts in the state-run system. “Tradeable green power is already sold out for 2022 and the supply for 2023 will probably be bought very quickly as well, given the high demand,” Fishman told the South China Morning Post. Interest is particularly strong in long-term contracts spanning 10 or 15 years: Large corporations need reliable planning.
As long as there is no central trading platform, interested companies have to arrange their own local access to green power. BASF, for example, currently constructs a Verbund site in the city of Zhanjiang in Guangdong, which is to be supplied with 100 percent green power by 2025. To this end, the chemical company launched a mechanism together with the provincial government for the direct purchase of green power in 2019 (China.Table reported). At the time, the company proposed the Renewable Direct Power Purchase (R-DPP) concept to local authorities, which it had jointly developed with the China Resources Power group. In March, BASF signed a 25-year green electricity framework agreement with the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) for Zhanjiang. The first plants will begin operations in Zhanjiang this year, according to BASF.
China’s power grids play a crucial role in the country’s transition to carbon neutrality. They must break the coal primacy and transmit more green electricity on a pro-rata basis. To achieve this, more and improved supraregional power grids are required. This is because the majority of green power is generated in the sun- and wind-rich regions of western China. But the greatest demand is in the industrial east coast and its metropolises.
This is why China’s grid operators have worked for years to build massive new high-voltage grids, including some lines dedicated to transmitting green power from west to east. “Cross-province electricity trading is important both for electricity security and for increasing the use of renewable energy,” Hove writes. On the pilot trading day of the green power platform, some transactions even took place across provincial borders. That’s a start, at least.
It was supposed to be the highlight of this year’s auto show in Beijing. A concept car that Audi hopes to break new ground in a new segment: A luxury van with the powertrain of a sports car. But in the end, the Beijing auto show was postponed until summer (China.Table reported). So the premiere now only took place virtually – but the buzz is huge nonetheless.
This is because this Audi concept was developed for the first time largely in China and specifically for the Chinese market. Until now, the premium manufacturer has only adapted its models for the Chinese market, for example by lengthening the wheelbase to create more space in the back seats. In China, the car’s owner often sits in the back; only the driver sits in the front.
Now the company actually listens to its Chinese customers. This marks a cultural change. In past decades, Audi engineers were all about educating the supposedly backward Chinese customers for world-class cars. Now the learning process moves in the other direction. “We developed the car together with our Chinese clientele,” says Norbert Weber, head of interior design at Audi, describing the new era. “In the process, we specifically asked what customers perceived as luxury.” The answer was: “room and a sense of space.”
The result is a car that is taller and wider than the Q7 SUV and longer than the A8 sedan. At 5.51 meters, the van is even longer than VW’s Multivan T7, which is just under five meters long. All Audi models to date are less than two meters wide. The Urban Sphere comes in at 2.01 meters. At 3.40 meters, the front and rear wheels are further apart than on the new XXL version of the Audi A8.
Nevertheless, the car looks a tad smaller from the side than it actually is. It tries to duck on its 24-inch wheels in a streamlined manner. At the front, however, the new Audi has designed a front that resembles the mouth of a baleen whale. This visualizes the 400 horsepower in its two electric motors. Anyone who gets in the way will be swallowed, so to speak, is what the van wants to signal when you look in the rearview mirror. And even when stationary, the car does not try to hide its power. It occupies an area of 11 square meters.
Audi has taken a new approach with the Urban Sphere. The car was no longer designed traditionally from the outside in, but from the inside out. It’s a living room on wheels, or a rolling lounge for those who think that sounds too conservative. The car has a lot of what traditional German drivers would call “bells and whistles”. The doors open in opposite directions to reveal a particularly large opening. The so-called B-pillar is missing. When the doors are open, LEDs project a red carpet of lights onto the road. The bucket seats turn 25 degrees toward the door, which makes getting in even easier. They can also be reclined almost completely, just like in the business class of an airplane.
The interior has an elegant and futuristic look. Leather was yesterday. Sustainable materials and wood are now combined. The steering wheel can be lowered in this vehicle, which is to be approved for Level 4 autonomous driving. LED symbols are integrated into the wood paneling and pop up or disappear behind the veneer, depending on personal taste.
The inside temperature can also be set with a twisting hand gesture; passengers can even control the screen integrated into the front seat with their eyes. Or you simply say the word “water” and the magnetically secured cup in the center console is filled. Of course, this also works with whiskey. The car also communicates with its environment on the outside. An LED wall hidden behind the front grille displays acceleration (blue) as well as the vehicle’s battery charge level (green).
“I’m fast and full,” is the colorful message to other drivers. When the car is unlocked, the front display winks friendly. This might remind older owners of K.I.T.T. in the TV show Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff. A large red cross on the radiator indicates that the car has either broken down or is out of power. You can see all these functions on YouTube.
Those who now scoff at such gimmickry should know that the Chinese love it when their vehicles light up and flash like the neon signs on a busy shopping boulevard. They are happy to pay for it. But does a giant vehicle like this make any sense at all in the clogged streets of Asia’s megacities?
The words that the Audi board member for development uses in the video stream to make the car palatable to customers suspiciously seem like the emperor’s new clothes. “Our human-centric approach created a confident and progressive body, which commands space and delivers premium stand-out appeal.”
While the environment suffers under ever heavier vehicles, Audi’s approach is on the right track in China from a marketing perspective. It is pointless for German automakers to try and compete with Chinese rivals in the compact car segment. For German premium manufacturers, if it is not already too late, there is only one way to remain successful in the Chinese market: to be even more exclusive, even more expensive, even more luxurious.
This may well result in cars for which the question of finding a parking spot becomes irrelevant. Anyone who owns such a car also has a chauffeur in China. In the evening, they disappear into their own underground parking garage anyway. The VW brand Bentley achieved growth of 40 percent with such models last year – and sold almost twice as many vehicles in China as in all of Europe.
These are cars for people who already have everything and are convinced that they are doing enough for climate change by owning an EV. Cars that are highly connected and where the interior experience is far more important than the driving experience.
In fact, luxury vans have long become popular not only in China, but throughout Asia. The Japanese, in particular, have long occupied this segment with the Toyota Alphard, the Lexus LM and, with some cutbacks, the Nissan Elgrand. China’s movie stars like to vanish in such cars. Daimler is trying its hand in this segment with the V-Class, but has yet to play a central role. So the competition is not idling, but it also does not have the Audi brand image. And this means that a small market gap is emerging.
This brings us to the biggest drawback of the Urban Sphere: So far, it is only a concept car – in other words, a car that shows what is possible, but not what will actually be launched on the market. Such a luxury vehicle should have been available in China long ago. In short, the Ingolstadt company is on the right track in China. But unlike in the past, they would have to build a real car that is close to this concept car. Above all, Audi must become faster.
Angela Titzrath has been observing China’s economic and technological development for more than 25 years. Born in Essen in 1966, she graduated at 18 and studied economics and romance philology. From 1991 to 2012, she held various top international management positions at Daimler, worked as a member of the Supervisory Board for various companies and organizations, and as a consultant and lecturer.
Since 2017, she has been Chair of the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), with more than 6,300 employees across the entire global Group and revenues of more than €1.4 billion in 2021. “My many professional stations have taken me to many different continents and have been formative for my current position,” she says. Now she wants to further develop HHLA. Once a classic port operator, the company is steadily evolving into a European logistics company. The focus here is on sustainability.
Angela Titzrath first traveled to China in the late 1990s as part of her career at Daimler. At that time, there was exactly one ring road in Beijing. Then, as today, Titzrath was fascinated by China’s beauty and culture, but also by the people’s eagerness and open minds for new things. Over time, the highway network has grown to an impressive size. The fishing village of Shenzhen has achieved the status of Asia’s Silicon Valley.
HHLA stands for 136 years of history, but also for forward-looking concepts: For example, Modility, which is something like the website Booking.com for combined transports. Or HHLA Sky GmbH, which offers technology for controlling drones and was awarded the 2021 Innovation Prize in the start-up category. There is great potential for innovation, both within the Group itself and in cooperation with China. For example, Chinese manufacturer Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) shipped three 2,480-ton container gantry cranes to Hamburg in 2019. They can also be used to handle very large ships.
In recent decades, Hamburg has become the hub of German trade with China, says Titzrath: “60 percent of container throughput in the Port of Hamburg comes from China or is destined for China.” In 1982, the first Chinese freighter had docked at HHLA’s Tollerort terminal. Today, Tollerort, one of HHLA’s three terminals in the Port of Hamburg, is a hub for liner traffic operated by COSCO Shipping Lines. “With the 35 percent minority stake of COSCO Shipping Ports Limited in our smallest terminal, Tollerort, we are putting an exclamation mark behind what has been an ongoing, downright friendly relationship for 40 years.”
She responds to critics who see investments by Chinese companies in key infrastructure as a risk: “Just as the Silk Road is not a one-way road, neither is the economic relationship between China and Germany.” China is an intensive global partner and customer not only in the port terminal sector, but also in rail freight transport and logistics. In addition to COSCO, HHLA handles ships of the shipping company China United Lines in Hamburg. So there are many links to network even more closely with China: “We have the ambition to grow together, to further develop logistics flows and to further expand markets.” Daniela Krause
A sperm whale washed up on the beach in Xiangshan near Ningbo. On Wednesday, helpers managed to push it back into the sea. For stranded whales, desiccation is particularly dangerous. So the helpers repeatedly doused him with water from plastic buckets – and kept him wet enough. In the end, he calmly swam away.
