China Cosco has said it will invest up to €500m ($552m) in Greece’s Port of Piraeus over the next five years, according to reports.
Investment will be made in Greece’s cruise and shipbuilding industries and in developing facilities at the port “to make Piraeus the biggest transit port in the Mediterranean,” China Cosco’s president Xu Lirong said at a meeting in Shanghai with the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, according to the WSJ.
Lirong reportedly asked for Tsipras’ help in dealing with frequent strikes at Piraeus.
Tsipras is on a five-day official visit to Beijing and Shanghai to encourage Chinese investment in Greece.
“We are certain that Piraeus will open new prospects for the broadening of Greece-China cooperation in transport, infrastructure, telecoms and shipping,” Chinese president Xi Jinping when he met Tsipras in Beijing on Tuesday, quoted by the WSJ.
China Cosco’s bid to acquire 67% of Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) for EUR368.5m ($410.6m) was accepted in February but the buyer last month said key elements of the deal appear to have been altered.
The terms of the deal were submitted by the country’s shipping ministry to parliament for approval on June 28.
