Siemens boss Joe Kaeser on Friday lashed out at the practices used by Chinese investors to exercise total control over foreign firms, as disquiet grows about China's appetite for German technology and know-how. The recent ousting of robotics maker Kuka's chief executive Till Reuter two years after the prestigious German firm was taken over by Chinese group Midea, was just the latest example, Kaeser told the regional daily Augsburger Allgemeine.
"The Chinese go into a company, give guarantees about employment and then everything is calm for a while. At some point, they set up a separate company that swallows the old one, and take away the research and development." The unusually frank comments come just days after the German government toughened rules on non-EU share purchases or acquisitions of strategic companies, in a measure aimed at curbing Chinese takeovers.