germany's government is intervening in the sale of critical infrastructure to chinese investments german state bank k f w u has agreed to take a twenty percent stake in high voltage energy network operator fifty hats fending off an offer from chinese state grapes now but instead it has a strong interest in protecting critical energy infrastructure from foreign influence. control over the distribution of electricity it's important for millions network operator fifty hertz provides transmission in large parts of north and eastern germany including the capital berlin that's one reason why the federal government deemed a partial purchase of the utility by chinese investors problematic. on one hand we're naturally pleased that investors invest in germany and purchase businesses. on the other hand given how things have changed in the world we have to look at what business activities what areas are focal points for national security . because the investor in this case is a state run company trying to meanwhile shields its own market against competition from the west the german government has long pushed for equ

germany's government is intervening in the sale of critical infrastructure to chinese investors german state bank k f w has agreed to take a twenty percent stake in the high voltage energy network operates a fifty hertz thus fending off an offer from china's state grid but instead it has a strong interest in protecting critical energy infrastructure from foreign influence last year germany adopted legislation making it easier to veto takeovers of strategically important companies amid concerns china may be gaining access to key technologies that way. until it's and joins me in the studio and you've been following this story does germany really need to worry about china switching the power off well i wouldn't worry about china turn up germany's power right now that would kind of be the ultimate black swan event rather i think the german government is actually really kind of concerned about exposure right now i mean china in the last several years has been on a major buying spree throughout the country will throughout the continent really but definitely focusing in on germany and you have to remember as

welcome to your business german state bank k f w has agreed to take a twenty percent stake in a high voltage energy network operator fifty hertz fending off an offer from china's state grid but instead it has a strong interest in protecting critical energy infrastructure last year germany adopted legislation making it easier to veto the takeovers of strategically important companies amid concerns china may be gaining access to key technologies that way. it's a project that surfaced recently been heavily criticized by don't much trump that's highly controversial within europe to stream to if everything goes according to plan the nine and a half billion euro project will start transporting gas from russia to europe by the end of twenty nineteen north stream to run along the first pipeline through the baltics to. neighboring coastal states are divided in their opinion about the project finland and sweden have already endorsed it while denmark is still undecided due to environmental concerns the baltic states and poland oppose north stream two due to concerns over europe's dependency on

last week the german government moved to block china's state grid from acquiring a twenty percent stake in the electricity transmission network operator fifty hertz instead the state bank k f w agreed to take the stake fending off the chinese offer a german government spokeswoman told a press conference today the berlin has a responsibility to ensure reliable energy and protects critical infrastructure but she said the country would be more open than ever to foreign direct investment. let's go live to put it sound financial correspondent in frankfurt. tell me first of all about the ins reaction here i often get accused by my partner of being very defensive when i'm accused of something and that's exactly what berlin sounds like right now. oh no we're totally open to all investments it does sound defensive and so because there is a big backlash actually friday from the german industry that is worried after this move by the government that foreign investors are going to be scared off and rightly so. it is right china's government doesn't courage it's companies to take over strategically important companies abroad and that's also been the explanation for the move by the german

a key electrical grid operator electric utility states a great wanted to purchase a stake in fifty heard. it's now the german government backed k f w bank will purchase a twenty percent stake in the operated instead but instead it has a strong interest in protecting critical energy infrastructure last year germany adopted legislation making it easier to veto the takeovers of strategically important companies i meet fears that china may be gaining access to key technologies through takeovers. all right a new record for facebook it's a suffered the biggest ever one day loss in dollar value for a u.s. company social media giant shared a staggering one hundred twenty billion dollars in market value investors it is appointed by weaker than expected growth partly due to the effect of data privacy scandals facebook's costs are also rising as it focuses on tightening security and improving content. a few hours have passed since this massive drop in share price but i'm sure that investors are still digesting it down we'll call parliament on the front and stock exchanges in standing by the idea how can facebook hope to recover from that. yeah tha

last week the german government moved to block china's state grid from acquiring a twenty percent stake in the electricity transmission network operator fifty heads instead the state bank k e f w agreed to take the stake fending off the chinese offer however the government stresses the country remains open for foreign investment. let's get the taken for a good cause because it puts a study by presidential correspondent. so germany is open for business but it sounds like it's going to get a little more selective. yes ben and it does sound like it's going to get a little bit more selective on the chinese side of things there are two cases actually that give that impression the first is the one that you just mentioned with fifty terrorists the network operator supplies eighteen million people with power so it is indeed critical infrastructure and that was also the reason given by the german government a spokesperson said. it is there's a great interest in protecting critical infrastructure of the population and the economy expect a reliable energy supply and then the population in the economy might wonder is there something going on about voters here but there's a second case. an