Visitors look at the 5G intelligent system exhibition booth of China's Huawei at the 2019 World 5G Convention in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Huawei and other Chinese companies which invest in Germany call for equal opportunities to do business like companies from other countries, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany said on Friday. The request underscores the risks that Berlin singles out Chinese companies in its special security inspections. 

"We do not oppose security inspections, but we hope the same inspection standards are applied to companies from all countries doing business in Germany. If Germany singles out a company just because it is from China and adopts a different standard for it, this may violate the fair market principle," Duan Wei, chief executive officer at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany, said in an interview with the Global Times. 

This stance is similar to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who wanted security standards to be the yardstick, rather than singling out any particular company, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Duan noted that attitudes toward Huawei's 5G mobile networks in Germany are different within Germany's grand coalition government, but the chamber cares about the position of Merkel the most and appreciates her stance.

According to an announcement released by the chamber on November 12, "If the German government makes a wrong decision on such a typical case of cooperation, it will hugely impact Chinese investors' confidence and most likely have an extremely negative effect on future economic cooperation between Germany and China".

"For Chinese companies investing overseas, security is their priority and earning money ranks second. If Germany excludes a particular Chinese company based on political judgment instead of facts and objective criteria, other Chinese companies may think: will I encounter the same problem?" Duan asked.

The biggest concerns for Chinese companies will be a sense of security and confidence, Duan said.

Last year was the third consecutive year for China to be the biggest trade partner of Germany. From January to July this year, bilateral trade went up 2.4 percent to $106.9 billion, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in September. 

Germany's new investment in China grew by 62.7 percent in the first seven months year-on-year, reaching $1.17 billion, the MOFCOM added.

"So far, we haven't seen the Chinese government exclude German companies due to security reasons. Both countries have already built a reciprocal relationship," Duan said.

He noted the depth and breadth of German companies in China is far deeper and broader than that of Chinese companies in Germany. Outstanding German companies, such as automakers BMW Group and Daimler, and German software company SAP SE, came to China in the 1990s. 

In 2018, more than 8,000 German companies invested and ran businesses in China and more than 2,000 Chinese companies were doing the same in Germany, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The cooperation areas covered trade, finance, technology, environmental protection and the humanities.

"Germany has outstanding advantages in modern, advanced manufacturing and is involved in the Industry 4.0. But the initiative requires a modern telecoms infrastructure, which the country doesn't have at the moment," Duan said.

"If Germany wants to walk on 'two legs,' how can it realize the Industry 4.0 with only modern manufacturing but no modern telecoms and digital infrastructure?"