German Domestic Intelligence Warns Of Chinese Strategic Investments

Germany’s domes­tic intel­li­gence agency has report­ed on influ­ence attempts by Chi­na and warned of strate­gic invest­ments by Chi­nese com­pa­nies in Ger­many that are part of China’s “Made in Chi­na 2025 ”and the “New Silk Road Ini­tia­tive.” Accord­ing to the agency’s recent­ly released 2020 annu­al “Con­sti­tu­tion­al Pro­tec­tion” report:

The coun­try, ruled in an author­i­tar­i­an man­ner by the Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Par­ty (CCP), has estab­lished itself — also with the use of its intel­li­gence ser­vices — as an eco­nom­ic and mil­i­tary super­pow­er. Indus­tri­al espi­onage, influ­ence and obser­va­tion as well as con­trol of oppo­si­tion move­ments abroad — for exam­ple in con­nec­tion with the Democ­ra­cy move­ment in Hong Kong — were the focal points of the activ­i­ty of Chi­nese ser­vices. Strate­gic mas­ter plans such as “Made in Chi­na 2025 ”and the“ New Silk Road Ini­tia­tive ”describe Chi­na’s long-term goals.  Com­pa­nies that are impor­tant to Chi­na in the con­text of the two strate­gies were the focus of cor­re­spond­ing indus­tri­al espi­onage and cyber attacks. In terms of long-term know-how pro­tec­tion, the LfV there­fore also observed strate­gic invest­ments by Chi­nese com­pa­nies in Hesse.  These invest­ments often do not fol­low pri­vate-sec­tor inter­ests, but were part of the mas­ter plans.  In the event of a sus­tained eco­nom­ic down­turn caused by the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic, com­pa­nies with know-how wor­thy of pro­tec­tion run the increas­ing risk of becom­ing takeover can­di­dates for such invest­ments. [Trans­lat­ed with Google Translate]

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Made in Chi­na 2025 is a Chi­nese nation­al strate­gic plan and indus­tri­al pol­i­cy to upgrade China’s man­u­fac­tur­ing capa­bil­i­ties and turn the coun­try into a self-suf­fi­cient tech­nol­o­gy-inten­sive pow­er­house, dom­i­nat­ing advanced indus­tries such as robot­ics, advanced infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy, avi­a­tion, and new ener­gy vehi­cles. High-tech export-ori­ent­ed coun­tries such as Ger­many are wor­ried about these plans as Chi­na uses a mix of for­eign acqui­si­tions, forced tech­nol­o­gy trans­fer agree­ments, and com­mer­cial cyber espi­onage to gain the cut­ting-edge tech­nolo­gies it is still lacking.

The New Silk Road Ini­tia­tive (or Belt and Road Ini­tia­tive) is a Chi­nese glob­al infra­struc­ture devel­op­ment strat­e­gy seek­ing to invest in 70 coun­tries and inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions and is con­sid­ered a cen­ter­piece of the Chi­nese Com­mu­nist Party’s for­eign policy.