The Greens in the Bundestag want to tighten the legal requirements for foreign investments in particularly sensitive areas. In the past few days it has become clear "that there is an urgent need for legal readjustments in order to be able to prohibit strategically motivated takeovers by foreign investors even more easily in the future - also and especially with a view to critical infrastructure," said parliamentary group leader Konstantin von Notz to the "Handelsblatt ". "This is also an important building block in filling the turning point with political life."

The background is the planned takeover of a chip factory from the Dortmund company Elmos by a subsidiary of the Chinese group Sai Microelectronics. The sale must be approved by the federal government. Most recently, the government's approval for the entry of the Chinese state shipping company Cosco into an operating company at a container terminal in the port of Hamburg caused discussions.

In the case of the chip factory, von Notz warned that the warnings from the secret services should be taken "very seriously". The realization that one should not become too dependent on a future world power was only slowly gaining ground with regard to China.

CDU pushes for risk analysis

The domestic policy spokesman for the Union faction in the Bundestag, Alexander Throm (CDU), suggested temporarily banning Chinese companies from investing in German companies. "The federal government must now present a risk analysis as soon as possible, in which areas company investments should be restricted for reasons of strategic independence," Throm told the "Handelsblatt". "Until then, I also think a temporary moratorium on participation is worth considering."

Throm accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of "not understanding the need for a turnaround in China". "Instead of selling our silverware, the federal government should promote Germany's digital independence," he said. "Especially in the neuralgic area of ​​IT hardware, German companies are in short supply." Scholz visits China on Friday with a business delegation.