The Swedish government recently presented a bill for better control and the possibility to stop foreign investments in security-sensitive sectors, including critical infrastructure and technology that can be used militarily.
– There is probably no doubt that there are investments made by foreign companies in Swedish companies that would have been hit by this kind of regulation if it were in place and then also would have been reviewed in this way, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M ).
SVT Nyheter has mapped the Chinese ownership in Sweden and found over 1,500 companies with varying degrees of Chinese ownership. From small restaurants and import companies to well-known companies such as the passenger car manufacturer Volvo and the train operator MTR.
A large group is active in or around the Volvo Group, which is owned by Chinese Geely. The company Nevs that took over Saab in Trollhättan is also Chinese, but their turnover is considerably more modest.
Part of the group
A large group consists of different types of IT companies. The chip manufacturer Silex in Järfälla has had Chinese owners for several years, and is part of a group with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the manufacture of defense equipment.
– It is an example of a type of investment that may not go through next year, says Oscar Almén at the Total Defense Research Institute FOI.
Recently, Silex in Germany was stopped from acquiring another company themselves, specifically with reference to the Chinese ownership.
Silex, MTR and Volvo have all declined interviews with SVT Nyheter. The companies have emphasized in various contexts that they are privately owned, but according to experts, you cannot divide Chinese companies into state-owned and private in the way we are used to in the West. (See video.)
FOI is currently working on a survey of Chinese takeovers in Swedish business.
