Hamburg has always had its sights set on Asia: Angela Titzrath

May 31, 2019: Angela Titzrath, chairwoman of HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) executive board, has said that as the gateway to the world, Hamburg has always had its sights set on Asia.

She was speaking during the one-day visit of Wang Qishan, vice president of the People’s Republic of China to the came to the HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort at the Port of Hamburg. Wang Qishan was accompanied by 40 high-ranking Chinese government officials.

Expressing interest in expanding business activities with China, Titzrath said, “China has launched an ambitious logistics offensive. With the New Silk Road, the country is demonstrating that it considers trade with Europe as a project for both current and future generations. With its customers, HHLA develops logistical and digital hubs for the transport flows of the future. As such, we want to play a role in shaping the ‘One belt, One road’ initiative from a business perspective – and that’s exactly what we will do.”

The day before, a letter of intent was signed between HHLA and the company operating the port in Ningbo-Zhoushan for stronger collaboration in terms of hinterland traffic and intelligent port technology. Ningbo-Zhoushan is located in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, and is currently the world’s third-largest container port.

During his visit, Wang Qishan spoke to the crew of Cosco Shipping Aries that was docked at the CTT quayside. This 400-metre-long mega-freighter has been calling at Tollerort since February 2018 and operates between northern Europe and the northern Chinese economic regions of Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Tianjin as part of the weekly AEU3 Far East service of the Ocean Alliance.

“As the gateway to the world, Hamburg has always had its sights set on Asia. The Asian market, particularly China, is crucial to us in our role as the largest container terminal operator at the Port of Hamburg. Almost 60 percent of total volumes derive from Asian markets, with more than 30 percent coming from China alone. The lion’s share of this cargo is seaborne. In recent years, however, the transport chains have witnessed considerable change. Freight transport via the continental Silk Road continues to rise,” pointed out Titzrath, on a subsequent harbour boat tour, which was also attended by Mayor Dr Peter Tschentscher and Hamburg's minister for economic affairs Michael Westhagemann.