Chinese full speed ahead: in sports, commerce, industry? Not at all: Germany puts its foot down and chooses to block the acquisition of Aixtron, a supplier of equipment for the semiconductor industry, on which the Chinese Grand Chip Investment had made a proposal. This is how a 670 million euro operation stops and the stock goes down on the stock exchange.
But why did Angela Merkel, at the hands of her Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, say no? 2016 was a year of the explosion of Chinese acquisitions in Germany (and beyond) with a total volume valued at 10 billion euros. In recent months, the attempt to block Kuka (a leading global player in robotics and automation) had failed. In fact, it was not possible to set up a consortium of alternative entrepreneurs.
But the point seems to be another: Germany is trying to defend its most advanced and strategic industry to achieve the 4.0 metamorphosis of industrial production. This is a fundamental step, a new revolution already underway and entirely dedicated to digital. The companies of the most advanced technology assume in this logic a strategic importance that evidently Berlin does not want to be robbed by China, very unwilling to open its huge market to European companies with criteria of reciprocity.
Angela Merkel leads the way: is this the beginning of a new vision of globalisation?
